The ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle has been away from the cricketing action in the ongoing season of IPL. His franchise Kings XI Punjab has played 7 games already, but he hasn’t been a part of any of them. The exclusion of the explosive opener has raised many eyebrows. When KL Rahul was asked about the same, he replied, “Chris Gayle will come in at the right time.”
It seems now that the fans have a reason to rejoice. Chris Gayle may be seen playing against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday. The Caribbean batsman was supposed to play against Sunrisers Hyderabad but the team could not play him as he was suffering from food poisoning. Now, the news is that he has recovered and is all set to play.
Chris Gayle practiced for KXIP on Monday
The picture of Gayle training in the nets was posted by KXIP social media team. The picture was captioned, “Guess who’s back?” “He is fine now and it is likely that he will be playing the game against RCB (on Thursday),” a team source confirmed PTI.
Guess who's back? ?#SaddaPunjab #IPL2020 #KXIP https://t.co/azraXLCtRW
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) October 12, 2020
The inclusion of Gayle will help Punjab boost their morale after losing 6 out of their 7 matches. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal have been performing really well, but the Punjab franchise has not been able to perform as a team. They have lost very close matches, giving it away easily in crunch situations.
KXIP will now need something special to revive their hopes of making it to the playoffs. They will have to ensure that they capitalise on the advantage they get. KXIP’s next game is in Sharjah which is the smallest ground and it could be the perfect opportunity for Chris Gayle to announce his return in style. KXIP is sitting at the bottom of the table currently with only 2 points in their kitty.