IPL 2018: Ravi Ashwin showers praises on Chris Gayle following his match-winning performance

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) opener Chris Gayle enlightened the PCA stadium in Mohali with his thunderous ‘Gaylestorm’, that sparkled the game between Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) last night. The big West Indian played a power-packed inning in which he scored an unbeaten 104 runs off 63 balls and meanwhile also scored the first hundred of the tournament.

On the back of Gayle’s spectacular knock, KXIP were able to defeat Hyderabad pretty much easily by a margin of 15 runs and thus, climbed on the third spot on the points table. KXIP have now recorded 3 wins in 4 matches and will certainly be looking forward to continue their winning momentum.

Chris Gayle took the game away from SRH: Ashwin

Gayle was the only batsman for his team in the game against SRH last night, who converted his start to a huge score, while the other batter failed to do so. He smacked 11 sixes during his thunderous knock, out of which Gayle struck SRH’s premier bowler Rashid Khan for 6 long sixes. The KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin also mentioned that Gayle played remarkably well to take the game away completely from the opposition. Ashwin stated that players like Gayle are an absolute joy to watch for the spectators as well as for the people seated in the dugout.

“Chris batted well and took it away from them. There are players like these to entertain, that’s why the crowd is turning up. Chris batted beautifully,” said Ashwin while speaking to the media after the match, as quoted by India Today.

Ashwin states the difference between the other batsmen and Gayle

Surprisingly, Gayle being the most experienced and the highest run-scorer in the shortest format of the game, went unsold in the first two rounds of IPL 2018 auction and was then finally bought by the Punjab owner Preity Zinta for his base price. He was also not included in the playing XI in the first two games of the season, but then the Windies opener announced his arrival with an explosive half-century against the Chennai Super Kings in his first game for his newest IPL franchise.

Ashwin also revealed that Gayle has the ability to hit a length delivery for a hard six, which makes him look different as compared to the rest of the batsmen in the world.

“Chris just punches a back of a length delivery out of the ground — that’s the difference between him and other batsmen. It’s hard to replicate, and when it comes off, it’s brilliant,” further added the KXIP skipper.

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