IPL 2020: Why is Chris Gayle not playing this season?

IPL 2020 began on 19th September, and the tournament has captured everyone's attention over the last few days as the top cricket stars of the world have returned to the field.

Big names like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Shane Watson, and several others have made their presence felt in IPL 2020 so far. Still, a certain Universe Boss has not played his first match of the competition yet.

West Indian great Chris Gayle, who skipped the Caribbean Premier League 2020 last month, is a part of the Kings XI Punjab squad in IPL 2020.

Fans expected him to light up IPL 2020 with his explosive batting performances, but here's the reason why the Mohali-based franchise have not picked him in the playing XI this year.

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KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in peak form; Chris Gayle unlikely to get a game in IPL 2020 soon

Kings XI Punjab's team management tried a new opening pair of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in IPL 2020. The Karnataka duo have fired on all cylinders, and both right-handed batsmen feature in the top 5 of the Orange Cap list.

Agarwal and Rahul have registered a century each in IPL 2020, and it is highly unlikely that Punjab would alter that combination in the remaining part of the season.

Chris Gayle generally opens the innings. Since he takes a little more time to settle in the middle, his team have been reluctant to try him as a middle-order batsman.

Check out the IPL 2020 schedule here

Besides, he has been away from the cricket field for quite a while now. Thus, until there is a massive decline in any of the two KXIP openers' batting form, Chris Gayle will continue warming the bench in IPL 2020.