IPL: Ranking 10 worst releases in the league history

3. Chris Gayle (KKR)

The Universal Boss had first made his IPL debut in 2009 and was bagged by the KKR franchise for INR 3.93 Crore. The opener in his 16 collective appearances across the 2009 and 2010 IPL edition had scored a total of 463 runs at a quality average of 30.47. However, with the KKR management finding it as an inadequate affair, Gayle was omitted from the squad before the 2011 mega auction.

While there was no doubt that the West Indian was an honourable T20 cricketer even back in those days, the RCB team had then left no stone unturned to bag the southpaw in the 2011 IPL. Although Gayle had come in as an injury replacement, his batting at the end of the 2011 IPL had become a big revelation, as a mammoth pile of 608 runs were scored from his blade. While the number of 608 runs was just a trailer, Gayle perhaps even further broke many records by scoring more than 700 runs in the both IPL 2012 and 2013 season.

Overall, with his thunderous batting, Chris Gayle had made RCB one of the top teams of the IPL in his initial years, whereas the KKR side did struggle until the emergence of former captain Gautam Gambhir. However, with the purple army also bagging its first IPL glory in 2012, the regret wouldn’t have been anymore felt.