Punjab Kings decided to drop the Universe Boss, Chris Gayle against Rajasthan Royals and this decision of the PBKS think tank did not go down well with former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen. The pair were surprised to see Punjab Kings drop Chris Gayle from their playing XI and go with Nicholas Pooran, Adil Rashid, Aiden Markram and Fabian Allen as their four overseas players.
Former England international Kevin Pietersen was clearly upset and could not believe that Chris Gayle was not playing on his birthday.
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“Some questions will be asked. I don’t understand why you would leave Chris Gayle out on his birthday. If there was one game you were going to play him, it was this. If that fails you say ‘Okay, you can take some rest’. So I can’t understand the thinking at all,” Pietersen said on Star Sports.
Gavaskar too was ‘shocked’ to see the West Indies legend, who turned 42 on Tuesday, and said the call was ‘zero sense’. “I, like KP, am absolutely shocked that Chris Gayle is not playing today. The four overseas players who have been picked today can play brilliantly and win matches for Punjab Kings today. But the fact is that on your birthday you are leaving behind a stellar player in the T20 format. Not just in IPL – CPL, Big Bash. You name it, they have been dominating every single T20 league. And you leave him on his birthday for this game, it makes zero sense,” Gavaskar explained.
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Chris Gayle scored 178 runs in all 8 matches for PBKS in the first half at an average of 25.42, however, failed to score a half-century.
Playing for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League, Gayle scored 165 runs in nine matches at an average of 18.33. St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots Claimed its first Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title defeated St Lucia Kings by three wickets in a close match at Warner Park. Kits last week.
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