Chris Gayle admits he got 'carried away' after a stunning start against Kings X1 Punjab

Chris Gayle

When the West Indian big hitter Chris Gayle walked out, representing Royal Challengers Bangalore after a lengthy injury lay-off, to bat in his first match of the season against Kings X1 Punjab, the excitement among the fans both in the stadium and around the world was palpable. Much to their disappointment, it did not last for too long.

Gayle took Glenn Maxwell to the cleaners in the very first over of the match, hitting two fours and two sixes. He then tried to put pacer Sandeep Sharma out of his comfort zone by giving a charge towards him in the next over, only to see his woodwork disturbed by a sharp outswinger.

Following his dismissal for a 7-ball 20, the team collapsed like a pack of cards. On his surprising approach, which was in contrast to his usual style of seeing off the new ball, Gayle accepted that he ‘got carried away’ after a stunning start to the game. “I had been given a bit of a license to try and take it away from ball one but I got carried away,” said Gayle.

Expressing his disappointment, the former West Indian captain said, “I was on the go and I wanted to calm myself. I just wanted to stay aggressive, stay with the momentum but it did not happen today, which was unfortunate.”

On being asked about how fit he was to play the match, Gayle, who was brought in place of Ravi Rampaul revealed: “I got some injections and I was not a 100 per cent. I had been batting a lot in the nets but I was a bit rusty, no doubt about it. I was in bed for most of the last few days.”

Perhaps, the RCB management, desperate to get back to winning ways after back-to-back losses, erred in rushing him back.