2009. Perth Test. Australia vs West Indies.
An over excited Shane Watson was charged 15% of his match fees for allegedly celebrating Chris Gayle’s dismissal in an over the enthusiastic way and bringing the game into disrepute. On dismissing Gayle caught behind, Watson could not control his emotions and was in Gayle’s face the moment he was ruled out by the umpire. As Watson celebrated animatedly, Gayle looked at him not too amused and on another fine day, he might have well engaged in a verbal banter with the mercurial all-rounder.
A little over 6 years later, the two are likely to step on the field, not as clashing opponents, but as openers for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. The two have shared an extremely volatile and rocky relationship in the years gone by and have also taken digs at one another. But for now, all the differences between the two have etched aside and things look positive.
Watson, who recently scored an impeccable 124 against India in the third T20I at Sydney, was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping Rs. 9.5 crores. In the 2016 IPL player auctions, Watson became the most expensive buy ahead of the likes of Yuvraj Singh and a few other T20 icons.
Watson and Gayle recently met in Dubai where they are busy participating in the inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL). Gayle took the opportunity and poked fun at Watson on Twitter by sharing an image of them and writing a few whacky lines. Watson too responded in his own fine style.
Who would’ve thought this would happen? want to punch him in the belly when taking this, but #RCB need him for #IPL pic.twitter.com/1lKFie1biW
— Chris Gayle (@henrygayle) February 9, 2016
Amazing how the world works!!Now teammates @RCBTweets. Should be great fun batting with the new age Master Blaster. https://t.co/oNDiN4MDaE
— Shane Watson (@ShaneRWatson33) February 9, 2016