Bengaluru: The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) camp, including the star batter Virat Kohli, had a heartwarming reunion with the 'Universe Boss' and franchise's icon Chris Gayle following their win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday.
After a horrid first half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 which saw them lose seven out of first eight games, RCB completed a fairytale turnaround with six successive wins and entered the playoffs by beating CSK on Saturday in front of their home fans in Bengaluru.
The official Instagram handle of RCB on Monday posted a video of Gayle interacting with RCB players, including Virat. During their conversation, Virat joked about Gayle returning to the team as an 'Impact Player' next year.
"Come back next year, Impact player is on. You do not have to field no more. It is designed for you," said Virat.
Also, Gayle, who holds the record for maximum sixes in a single IPL season with 59 sixes for RCB in 2012, inquired Virat about how many sixes he smashed this season. To this, Virat proudly replied, "37".
Later, Virat gifted Gayle his number 18 signed jersey, with a special message for his former teammate.
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In 85 matches for RCB from 2011-17, Gayle scored 3,163 runs at an average of 43.33 and a strike rate of over 152, with five centuries and 19 fifties. His best score is 175*. He is also the part of RCB Hall of Fame along with AB de Villiers and Vinay Kumar.
Coming to the match, CSK won the toss and opted to bat first. RCB put on a fine score of 218/5 on the board, with skipper Faf Du Plessis (54), Virat Kohli (47) putting on a 78-run partnership, setting a fine platform for Rajat Patidar (41) and Cameron Green (38*) to put on a 71-run stand for the third wicket. Cameos from Dinesh Karthik (14 in six balls, with a four and six) and Glenn Maxwell (16 in five balls, with two fours and a six) took RCB to a 200-run plus total.
RCB needed to restrict CSK below 201 runs to qualify for the playoffs and surpass their net-run-rate.
In the run-chase of 219 runs and the task of scoring 201 runs at least to book the top four spot, CSK lost two wickets early and were reduced to 19/2. Rachin Ravindra (61) and Ajinkya Rahane (33) put up a 66-run stand to bring the side into the game.
RCB sunk CSK to 129/6, but a partnership between Ravindra Jadeja (42*) and MS Dhoni (25 in 13 balls, with three fours and a six) threatened to take the match away from RCB. However, Yash Dayal defended 11 runs in the final over, restricting CSK to just 191/7 in 20 overs.
RCB is in fourth place with seven wins and seven losses, with 14 points. CSK is in the fifth spot with seven wins and seven losses, but they have slid down to fifth due to a lower net-run rate.
—ANI