'I was lonely and bored, needed company at the top' - Chris Gayle welcomes Virat Kohli to the highest century makers club in style

Virat Kohli hit a cracking century against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the ongoing IPL 2023 and with that, the 34-year-old equalled Chris Gayle’s record of hitting the most number of centuries in the cash-rich league (6). Soon after Virat touched the three-figure mark, Gayle lauded the former RCB skipper and stated that he was bored and lonely at the top and needed some company therein the prestigious club. 

Notably, the former RCB skipper smashed 100 runs off 63 deliveries against SRH to help his team win by eight wickets. Courtesy of which, the three-time finalists now move closer to the IPL playoffs but they will still have to beat Gujarat Titans on May 21 at Chinnaswamy Stadium to confirm their berth. 

Meanwhile, this was Kohli’s first century in the IPL since 2019. Earlier in the season, Kohli was heavily criticised for his strike rate but against SRH, he was striking the ball well, bringing up his sixth century in the tournament.

“Welcome young man and welcome to the highest century makers club. I was bored. I was lonely and bored. I was like ‘I need some company at the top’. Now I have got it and we can have a talk now, Virat,” Gayle told JioCinema on Friday.

It was a superb innings and he was complemented by Faf as well: Gayle

Along with Virat, skipper Faf du Plessis too played some brilliant cricket, hitting 71 runs off 47 deliveries. Courtesy of which the South Africa international also became the first player to score 700-plus runs this season as he is also the IPL 2023 Orange Cap holder at the moment. Notably, his 172-run partnership with Virat eventually decided the fate of the game as RCB won the match comfortably.

Talking about Virat’s knock, Gayle lauded the way he built his innings and also mentioned that it was lovely to see the cricketer play sweep shots against left-arm spinners.

“He was so aggressive from ball one. When he hit that first boundary, he was like ‘it’s my day today and I am going to make it count’. He delivered for his team. Virat seldom plays a lot of sweep, but to see him play sweeps against left-arm spinners was lovely. It was a superb innings and he was complemented by Faf as well,” the 43-year-old added.