Chris Gayle shows the victory symbol after a successful IPL bid

The 38-year old was a last-minute addition to the KXIP squad.

Published - 29 Jan 2018, 20:38 IST | Updated - 29 Jan 2018, 20:38 IST

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Chris Gayle is a gritty customer, especially when it comes to plying his trade in the shortest format of the game. Most bowlers, if not all have their hearts in their mouths when they bowl at him. Apart from being one of the biggest crowd-pullers in the context of the Indian Premier League, the 38-year old Jamaican is also known for his strengths courtesy of his massive sixes into the stands.

However, the Jamaican was sidelined for most of the auction due to a few weak performances for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2017 edition of the IPL. He was picked on the third instance in the auction after the Kings XI Punjab bought him at his base price of ₹2 crores. The Punjab franchise picked a good team for the eleventh edition of the IPL. They splurged almost the entire amount from their Rs. 80 crore purse at the auction.

Sweet, little conversation between Gayle and Sehwag

Gayle holds numerous T20 records. He hit the fastest T20 century in just 30 balls. Also, he has the highest individual score in the IPL. He stayed not out on 175 overtaking Brendon McCullum’s’ 158. Chris Gayle also hit the highest number of sixes in the IPL and is a top-contended in many leagues across the world.

He recently scored two centuries in the Bangladesh Premier League just ahead of the auction. However, his inconsistency with the bat didn’t attract him any bids initially. Further, he was benched by RCB for a majority of the last season but he got third-time lucky after KXIP picked him in the finals round of the auction.

The devastating batsman faced a similar situation back in 2011 when went unsold. However, an injury to an RCB player prompted the management to rope him into the side. He was terrifying that season and also went on to win the ‘Orange Cap’. He was one of the top-performers for RCB.

After the bidding war, Virender Sehwag took to Twitter to share a photo with the team’s co-owner Preity Zinta and other staff members. “Do Hazaar Adarah, Hoye Hamaara. Best of luck to the boys!,” Sehwag tweeted in his well-known style.