IPL 2020: Chris Gayle Says, “Put Some Respect On The Name,”, Ravi Shastri Calls Him “Great Character Of The Game”

Highlights:

• Chris Gayle played his 1^st IPL 2020 match yesterday
• The West Indian player scored crucial 53 run
• Gayle celebrated his fifty by pointing towards a sticker on his bat
• Ravi Shastri described Gayle as “one of the great characters of the game,”

The West Indies cricketer, Chris Gayle, played his first match in the Indian Premier League 2020 and scored a crucial inning where he scored 53 runs as Kings XI Punjab beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 8 wickets.

After reaching to his fifty, the kings of IPL celebrated it in a unique style, pointing to a sticker on his bat which read “The Boss”. In the post-match interview, the explosive batsman revealed what he meant by that gesture and what message he wanted to pass on.

Gayle said, “All I wanted to say was put some respect on the name,”. However, he and the commentators shared a laugh when he was told he had held the sticker upside down.

Meanwhile, the head coach of the Indian cricket team, Ravi Shastri, described Chris Gayle as “one of the great characters of the game” in an interview where he also added that Chris Gayle will go down as one of the biggest entertainers to have played the sport.

Shastri said, “He is one of the great characters of the game. He lights up the tournament. He will be remembered as one of the greatest entertainers to have played the game,”.

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Gayle who is one of the most ferocious T20 players in the world came in to bat at 1-down for Kings XI Punjab on Thursday against Royal Challengers Bangalore and stitched a much needed partnership with skipper K L Rahul.

The duo, together, put up 93 runs on the scoreboard for the 2^nd wicket helping KXIP on a comfortable seat in the match.

KXIP who are not having their best of campaigns in the Indian Premier League having lost all but 2 matches in this season so far and towards the end it seemed like even this game would slip away once again but Nicholas Pooran smashed a six on the final ball to seal the victory for his side, which was his first ball of the game.

Talking about K L Rahul’s performance in the ongoing edition, Shastri said that he is mighty impressed with the way he has performed both as a leader and more so as a batsman.

The head coach of India said, “He has done brilliantly. With a little bit of luck, they could have won five. Last night they should have won easily but it went down to wire,”.

In the interview, the head coach of team India shared his thoughts on who he thinks are the best-groomed athletes across sports, picking Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo as his two choices.

Despite beating the third-placed side for the 2^nd time in IPL 2020, Kings XI Punjab are still rock-bottom in the points table with just four points from eight matches so far.

KL Rahul and the team really need to win all their remaining games to even stand a chance of making it to the play-off of the 13^th edition of the Indian Premier League. They will next face defending champions Mumbai Indians at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on the 18^th of October.