Getting Chris Gayle out the best feeling of my life: Basil Thampi

Royal Challengers Bangalore won the match by 21 runs against the Gujarat Lions last night and marked their second victory in this edition. Currently, RCB positioned 6th in the points table with 4 points and GL dropped down to the bottom of the table with only 2 points. The big-man Chris Gayle played a monstrous innings with the bat and smashed a half-century, which helped the visitors to reach 213 runs.

He scored 77 runs in just 38 balls which included 7 sixes and 5 boundaries. Along with Chris Gayle, the skipper Virat Kohli contributed well and scored 64 runs in 50 balls for his part. Everyone expected a century from the West-Indian but the Gujarat Lions pacer Basil Thampi got the big wicket of Chris Gayle when he was taking everyone to the cleaners. After the match, Thampi said that getting Gayle out was the best feeling in his life.

“It was the best feeling of my life. It was my first wicket in the IPL. I got the big man’s wicket and I’m very happy to get him out,” Thampi was quoted as saying by NDTV. The interesting fact is that it is his maiden wicket in the IPL and he gets it in the form of Gayle.

The 23-year-old guy also added that “It has given me enjoyment. The main thing is that I have to enjoy my bowling. Nowadays, I am bowling well and I just keep doing that. I actually allow the pressure to bowl like that. I know that the batsmen can hit me anytime, but I can also build the pressure that time. I enjoy that pressure”.

He also added that his practice with the tennis ball, played a vital role and it helped to increase his ability to bowl Yorkers. “I got my yorkers from tennis ball cricket. When I came for the camp, I kept on practising it in the nets with my coaches and they motivated me to keep doing that,” he said.

The former New-Zealand player and the RCB coach Daniel Vettori praised Chris Gayle for his blistering half-century. During the post-match press conference, he said, “Good thing about international cricketers is that they probably talk to themselves more than any captain or coach talking to them about their performances”. Gujarat Lions will play their next match against KKR on 21st April.