We need to regroup soon, says Gayle

Having made his first appearance in Royal Challengers’ fifth and final match of the UAE leg, Chris Gayle showed glimpses of his destructive prowess during his seven-ball 20 against Kings XI Punjab in Dubai the other night.

That he had to take three cortison injections to be able to ignore his troubling back also showed how desperately RCB were in need of his services. With two batting failures in as many lost matches, the Challengers endeavour to change their fortunes didn’t materialise despite Gayle’s presence as they crashed to their third successive defeat after having reeled off two back to back wins.

"I got some injections and I was not a 100 per cent. I had been batting a lot in the nets but I was a bit rusty, no doubt about it. I was in bed for most of the last few days,” Gayle had said after his early dismissal against Kings XI Punjab last Saturday.

It’s quite ironic that the much-maligned Bangalore bowling attack has done an excellent job in almost all matches while the much-talked about batting hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations. With many of their star batsmen -- including AB de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh -- struggling to fire, Challengers will bank on Gayle to provide some impetus to the innings when they kick off their India campaign with a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad here on May 4.

The big Jamaican isn’t completely fit but it’s unlikely he will be resting. “(There is) still a bit of discomfort,” said Gayle here on Wednesday during a promotional event. “There are a couple of days in between the next match and I can do some work with the physio. Let’s see how things go after a couple of days.”

While maintaining that every team was a favourite to win the title, Gayle admitted that it was disappointing to lose three games in a row. “We won the first two and lost three, so a bit disappointed. But that’s cricket. Hopefully we can rebound. We are back home in familiar conditions and hopefully we can reach the top four,” he remarked. 

Asked if there was any missing link in the team, Gayle answered in the negative. “There is no missing link. We have a lot of talented individuals capable of winning it for the team. We need to regroup. We have got a good break before the India leg begins and that should help us. We aim to gain some momentum by winning some games.”

The southpaw termed India as his second home while talking about his popularity
 in the country where he has been roped in to endorse several products. “It’s a privilege,” he noted. “You people have accepted me for a number of years. It’s home away from home (for me) and feels like I was born here, so don’t look at me as an outsider.”