Chris Gayle posts a strong message through IPL

The glitzy Indian Premier League got an extra injection of pizzazz over the Easter weekend with the arrival of West Indian star Chris Gayle, who carried out a timely crucifixion of the Kolkata Knight Riders, his team in previous seasons. Gayle smashed 102 not out from just 55 balls in what was a very Good Friday for the Bangalore Royal Challengers. The franchise, owned by tycoon Vijay Mallya, won by nine wickets and now looks to be a major contender for this year’s title after struggling in the opening matches.

Gayle’s performance helped lift his new team from ninth to fifth in the IPL table. By the end of the weekend, the Royal Challengers had slipped to sixth, but a side that boasts stars such as Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virat Kohli, Daniel Vettori, A.B. de Villiers and Zaheer Khan should be confident of beating the Delhi Daredevils at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Tuesday, despite Delhi’s openers Virender Sehwag and David Warner hitting rich form in Saturday’s win over Kings XI Punjab.

“We needed someone to produce a champion-type performance, and who better than Chris Gayle to pull that off?” said Royal Challengers coach Ray Jennings.

“What he’s produced tonight scares the hell out of me and hopefully will scare others going forward,” he added.

With Gayle in this form, the Royal Challengers’ batting line-up looks irresistible. In one of the most majestic performances in IPL history, Gayle smashed 10 fours and seven sixes, effortlessly lofting the ball high into the Kolkata night sky and deep into the stands at Eden Gardens. After just one innings, his name was all over the list of biggest sixes in the IPL4.

Amazingly, the big left-hander almost didn’t feature in this year’s IPL. He was ignored at auction because franchises expected him to be unavailable for much of the tournament due to international commitments. But he wasn’t selected for the West Indies series against Pakistan in the end. Then came the injury to Royal Challengers’ Dirk Nannes, which opened up a place in the squad for Gayle.

Gayle’s batting performance dismissed any concerns he might be suffering from post World Cup blues.

“I’m still a bit jet-lagged,” he said in an interview after the match. “Back home I wasn’t really practicing too much. That was the first time I’d picked up my bat since the World Cup.”

“I needed an IPL century and I wanted to get one under my belt. Hopefully I can get better from here,” he added. Those words will surely have Sehwag’s Delhi Daredevils quaking.

On Friday, another Indian World Cup winner—Gautam Gambhir—was on the receiving end of Gayle’s assault. The Kolkata Knight Riders captain looked shell-shocked. There was nothing he could do to stop Gayle, and his awe-struck expression was reflected in the faces of his Kolkata teammates, as well as coach Dav Whatmore, owner Shah Rukh Khan, and almost everyone else in Eden Gardens.

As former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said, “When somebody like Chris Gayle bats like that, there’s very little the bowlers can do.”

Other teams won’t want to hear those words again, but the IPL and its fans should thank their lucky stars that Gayle has edged his way into the tournament this year, because he is a joy to watch. Gayle was made for this form of cricket.

“God is good, God is great,” he said after last Friday’s match. Gayle’s not too bad, either.