No clarity on Gayle's absence

 Was Chris Gayle dropped or did he excuse himself from Wednesday’s game against Chennai Super Kings?

There was no clarity in the answers from Iqbal Abdulla, the man who fronted up the media in the post-match press do, to the many pointed questions about the batsman’s absence from the playing 11 but he did suggest that the decision to bench the Jamaican was as much as team management’s as it was Gayle’s.    

“No he’s not injured. He’s backing himself. There are still 10 matches, he’s preparing well,” said Abdulla when asked if Gayle was injured.“He is a very important player for RCB and he knows there are 10 matches, he will bounce back,” he added.

“He has kept himself for the matches ahead and hopefully he will play in those matches,” he noted when asked if Gayle dropped himself. Abdulla gave out a nervous laugh after another question about Gayle and said: “Four questions on this topic alone?” He eventually admitted that it was Gayle’s own decision (to sit out).

By that time, Abdulla had given enough reasons to doubt if it was Gayle’s decision alone. Adding fuel to the confusion was the opener’s active participation in team’s practice sessions. While Gayle’s 24-ball-10 against Mumbai Indians was quite uncharacteristic, ‘dropping’ him from the next match was unthinkable especially because it was his 96 that had given them the win over Kolkata Knight Riders, their only win so far in four matches. “I was surprised when Chris was not playing,” admitted CSK’s Suresh Raina.