JOIN USBefore Gayle’s addition, the Royal Challengers looked a beaten unit, suffering three defeats in as many matches, and not many had given them a chance against the Kolkata Knight Riders a fortnight ago at the Eden Gardens.
But the West Indies player, who came in for the injured Dirk Nannes, exploded in brilliant fashion to notch up a hundred that spurred the Royal Challengers to a facile win against his former franchise.
Since that brightly lit evening at Kolkata, the Royal Challengers have been a different team, and the credit entirely goes to the big Jamaican for transforming the fortunes of his new team with some forceful efforts at the top, including a whirlwind century against the Kings XI Punjab at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.
An uncluttered mind is the biggest asset of Gayle as the left-hander knows only one way to bat irrespective of the situation or format of the game.
Not enough
A target of 126 set by the Kochi Tuskers Kerala was not enough to even stretch the Royal Challengers and Gayle had the option of playing in a lower gear on Sunday.
But clad in a green jersey, symbol of eco-friendliness, Gayle unleashed pure violence on the Tuskers’ bowlers, who were just not prepared for such an assault.
The 16-ball 44 has swelled his tally to 328 runs from five matches at an astonishing strike rate of 205. That number itself is quite remarkable, but the significance of Gayle’s presence cannot be explained fully by the cold statistics.