IPL 2018: Match 48, Player Battles – Chris Gayle vs Umesh Yadav

Kings XI Punjab have suddenly lost the steam after starting the season with five wins in six matches only to toughen their chances of making it to the playoffs. KXIP’s middle-order has been quite inconsistent and chopping and changing didn’t help them either as they won only one in their last five matches. They will now face Royal Challengers Bangalore who are also aiming for a playoff spot in their 12th match.

As the middle-order hasn’t turned up for the Kings XI, there will be extra pressure on their openers KL Rahul and Chris Gayle to put on consistent performances. Rahul has scored 537 runs in 11 innings this season and stands at 3rd position in the Orange Cap race. Chris Gayle too began the season with three consecutive fifty-plus scores but collectively scored only 30 runs in the last three innings. It will be interesting to see how Gayle fares against his former franchise that showed him the door.

Every team had their plans to spot the Universe Boss get going and dismissing him early on is the only way. Rajasthan Royals tried with off-spin which worked for them while other teams go in with pace and target his body also the zone outside the off-stump close to his bat. The key to Gayle’s success in this season is picking his targets and negotiating the threats. He saw through Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s opening spell and went on to score a century and escaped MI’s pace attack in the game at Indore where he scored his last fifty.

Chris Gayle vs Umesh Yadav:

The Royal Challengers will surely make sure Gayle doesn’t cause any damage considering the fact that they know his strengths and weakness as he represented the team in the last seven seasons. Considering his current form, Umesh Yadav will be the best option for them to attack from one end. The pace Umesh has maintained this season will surely trouble the West Indian batsman and could even force him to make a mistake. Gayle has already been dismissed twice by Umesh within 28 balls in the IPL at the cost of 32 runs.

(Stats as on May 13, 2018)