Punjab Kings decided to drop Universe Boss, Chris Gayle against Rajasthan Royals and this decision by the PBKS think tank did not go well with former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen. The duo were shocked to see Punjab Kings leave out Chris Gayle from their Playing XI and go with Nicholas Pooran, Adil Rashid, Aiden Markram and Fabian Allen as their four overseas players.
Kevin Pietersen, the former England international was visibly displeased and could not believe that Chris Gayle was not playing on his birthday.
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“There will be some questions 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 one. If he failed then you say ‘ok, you can have a bit of rest’. So I can’t understand the thinking at all," Pietersen said on Star Sports.
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Gavaskar too was ‘astonished’ to see the West Indies batting legend who turned 42 on Tuesday and said that the call makes ‘zero sense’. “I, like KP, am absolutely astonished that Chris Gayle is not playing today. The four overseas players that have been picked today, can play brilliantly and win the game for Punjab Kings today. But the fact remains that on your birthday, you are leaving one of the stellar players of T20 format. Not just in IPL – the CPL, the Big Bash. You name it, every single T20 league he has dominated. And you drop him for this game om on his birthday, it makes zero sense," explained Gavaskar.
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Chris Gayle featured in all 8 matches for PBKS in the first half, scoring 178 runs at an average of 25.42, however, failed to hit a half-century.
In the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League, playing for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Gayle scored 165 runs in nine matches at an average of 18.33. St Kitts and Nevis Patriots claimed their first ever Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title defeating the Saint Lucia Kings by three wickets in a closely contested encounter at Warner Park. Kitts last week.
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