From nightclub to RCB: How Vijay Mallya’s call revived Chris Gayle’s IPL career

If one were to draw up a list of the all-time greats of the Indian Premier League (IPL), former West Indies star Chris Gayle would undoubtedly feature near the very top—thanks largely to his explosive years with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). To anyone who has followed his journey, memories of the famous “Gayle Storm” dismantling bowlers remain unforgettable. Yet, the story of how Gayle even landed at RCB, a franchise where he would go on to achieve cult status, is far less known.

Back in January 2011, Gayle found himself unsold at the IPL auctions. The disappointment was compounded when he was also left out of the West Indies squad for a home series against Pakistan, sidelined with an injury he had picked up during the World Cup in India earlier that year.

When things looked bleak, an unexpected lifeline arrived. Gayle was at a nightclub in Jamaica when his phone rang—it was RCB owner Vijay Mallya and team mentor Anil Kumble.

Recounting the moment on a podcast with Shubhankar Mishra, Gayle said: “I got a call. It was Vijay Mallya and Anil Kumble. They asked me if I was fit. I was like, ‘Is this for real?’ I said, ‘Yes, I am fit.’ They said, ‘If you’re fit, what we need you to do is go to the embassy tomorrow and get the visa.’ But I said tomorrow is Saturday. They said, ‘Don’t worry about that. Just turn up.’ I turned up the next day, got my visa, and then took my flight—and you know, Easter started from that time.”

What followed was nothing short of extraordinary. Drafted in as a replacement player mid-season, Gayle went on to smash 608 runs in just 12 innings, including two centuries, three fifties, and a staggering 44 sixes, carrying RCB all the way to the final.

The “Universal Boss” did not stop there. In 2012, he piled up 733 runs in 15 matches to claim the Orange Cap once again. Over the course of his IPL career, Gayle cemented his reputation as one of the league’s greatest entertainers, amassing 4,965 runs in 141 innings, with six centuries to his name.