IPL 2018: Anil Kumble has his say on Chris Gayle's prospects with RCB

Indian legend and former RCB captain Anil Kumble has his say over Chris Gayle’s fortune going ahead in the eleventh edition of the Indian premier league. As per the former India coach, the possibilities for RCB going in for Gayle in the forthcoming IPL auction are very slim given the fact that the Caribbean Southpaw hasn’t justified his abilities with the bat in the last two seasons that he represented for the Southern franchise.

Kumble was of the opinion that described RCB’s limitations in terms of their left purse value, with them already boasting to have Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers featuring in their ranks as a part of IPL retention policy earlier this month.

Down to 49 crores

With RCB going in for Virat (17 crores), AB (11 crores) and Sarfaraz Khan (3 crores) as their retained players, the onus is now on the team management to form a complete side with the left purse of 49 crores. Kumble who captained the Bengaluru-based franchise in 2009 and 2010, can say with a sense of assurance about Gayle not being in their scheme of things in the upcoming edition. With Gayle being a part of marquee players list and a base price of 2 crores, certainly condemns his chances to continue his services for his former franchise.

“Possibly they [RCB] will be cautious. They have to build the entire team as well. If you looked at last year, Gayle did not play in a couple of matches for RCB. It was not because he was injured or something, he was not picked. That’s a giveaway on whether they will go after him at the auction,” Kumble said during Star Sports’ analysis show “Game Plan – The Marquee List” on Saturday, January 20.

Timely hitting the form

The West Indian giant can boast of timely finding the form by scoring two centuries in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League(BPL), ending his lean patch of runs. He mustered a massive score of 146 in the final to help Rangpur Riders secure the title. This could certainly help the ever -aggressive batsmen to claim a high bid on 27th in Bengaluru.

He would be hoping to re-join RCB, a franchise that secured his career back on track by bringing him in 2011 IPL edition where he did wonders for the team by amassing 608 runs to even secure the Orange cap.