IPL 2018: Match 34, Player Battles – Chris Gayle vs Jasprit Bumrah

When Kings XI Punjab bought Chris Gayle in the 11th hour of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 auction, everyone assumed was a marketing pick and that the team would only pick him in a few matches but majorly make use of his name and fan following. The franchise, on the other hand, expected at least two match-winning knocks from Gayle in the tournament and he has already exceeded the expectations at the halfway stage in the tournament. The West Indian scored a hat-trick of fifty-plus scores for the first time in his IPL career to put KXIP on a winning spree.

The secret behind Gayle’s success is the way he has picked his target. While everyone expected him to fail against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he smashed their best bowler Rashid Khan for four consecutive sixes and scored an unbeaten century. His knocks against CSK and KKR were lethal and helped Kings XI get over the line as well. After an eight-day break, KXIP will take on the defending champions MI at their new home ground Indore.

Mumbai Indians are struggling to make a mark in the tournament having suffered six defeats in eight matches thus far. They are now left with only one option to win their remaining six matches to create a chance and qualify for the playoffs. At this critical stage, Mumbai should work out their best plans to stop the Gayle show.

Kings XI have regularly struggled with the bat once their openers KL Rahul and Gayle are back in the hut. Keeping it in the mind, MI have to bowl their best bowlers in the powerplay to get rid of the dashing opening pair.

Chris Gayle vs Jasprit Bumrah in the IPL:

The best option for Mumbai is to start with Bumrah against Gayle. The left-hander thus far has scored 24 runs off 20 balls from Bumrah in the IPL though he hasn’t lost his wicket to the pacer. However, Bumrah did send Gayle’s off-stump for a cartwheel during the WT20 2016 semi-final in Mumbai with the only ball he bowled to Chris Gayle in T20I cricket. Bumrah also got Gayle’s wicket in a similar fashion when India and Windies faced off in the warm-up game of that tournament in Kolkata.

(Stats as on May 3, 2018)