International cricket is happening at full swing with the Indian cricket in the middle of a home season. Once the tour of Australia gets over, the summer fiesta of the TATA IPL is set to begin. TATA IPL 2023 is slated to be begin towards the end of March or early April as Gujarat Titans get down to defend their crown. One former big name player though has come out took shots at RCB and Punjab Kings and the treatment they mete out to their players.
Chris Gayle takes shots at his former teams –
Former West Indian batting sensation Chris Gayle is a huge part in the annals of TATA IPL history. The West Indian batter’s 175 not out is still the best score in the tournament. Speaking on the sidelines of the SA20 league for JIO TV, Gayle said “players don’t feel part of franchise in Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB and Punjab Kings (PBKS) need to learn how to work with words like loyalty and trust”.
Chris Gayle’s previous comments on IPL –
TATA IPL auctions for 2022 which was a huge one saw Gayle pull his name out and make himself unavailable for the event. This sent huge shock amongst the fans as he had earlier stated he wanted to play franchise cricket for while longer. Speaking to English tabloid The Mirror, Gayle had said “for the last couple of years, the way the IPL went about, I felt like I wasn’t treated properly, so I thought, okay you don’t get the respect you deserved after you did so much for the sport and IPL, so I left it as it is”
Chris Gayle’s IPL journey –
Kolkata Knight Riders were quick off the blocks to place their bid for Chris Gayle. The West Indian played 16 games for KKR across 3 years scoring 463 runs with 2 half centuries at a strike rate of 141.
His best moment came when he was got in as mid season replacement for Dirk Nannes by the RCB. In his very first game for RCB he scored 102 not out against his former tram KKR. The same season he scored another century (107) against his future team Punjab. Gayle scored 733 runs in IPL 2012 and 708 runs in IPL 2013 with a century each. His 175* against Pune Warriors India being the standout point of his RCB career which saw him play 85 games and score 3163 runs with 5 centuries and a strike rate of 152.
Gayle finally played for Punjab kings in 41 games scoring 1339 runs with a strike rate of 143 with one century (104*). In all Gayle played 142 games scoring 4965 runs with 6 centuries and a career strike rate of 148. Gayle also picked 18 wickets with the ball with figures of 3/21 being his best.