KL Rahul and Chris Gayle are arguably the most destructive opening pair in the IPL. Gayle is regarded as the greatest T20 batsman whereas Rahul is slowly making his position among the finest players. The two were supposed to bat together in the IPL this year but unfortunately, the season has been postponed.
Nonetheless, the two along with their Kings XI Punjab teammate Mayank Agarwal found a way to entertain their fans. Mayank Agarwal continued his series of interviews in the chat show ‘Open nets with Mayank’ and chatted with Rahul and Gayle.
Will finish Rashid Khan – Gayle to Rahul
Rahul brought up an interesting story while talking about some of Gayle’s best knocks in the Indian Premier League. He recalled the 2018 games against Sunrisers Hyderabad when Gayle scored a magical ton. Rahul recalled that during that match when Rashid Khan came into bowl, Gayle told him that he would take the strike and dominate the leg spinner.
“I remember in 2018, he (Gayle) was really hungry, he wanted that season, he was angry. He told me we’re playing SunRisers and he said ‘if Rashid Khan comes on, I’m going to finish him because I don’t like a spinner coming in and staring me down”, Rahul told Mayank Agarwal.
Chris Gayle did just that as he dominated SRH’s best bowler Rashid Khan and scored an unbeaten century. In the 14th over Gayle hit four consecutive sixes off Rashid Khan and ended his innings at 104 runs that included 11 massive sixes.
Rahul added, “Gayle told me to give him the single, I want to play six balls against Rashid Khan’. And I think that’s the first time I saw Chris’ give-me-this attitude. He had a clear plan and I think he got a hundred that game”.
In the 2018 edition of the IPL, KL Rahul finished as the highest run-scorer for Kings XI Punjab. His team although failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished at the seventh spot. Rahul was named the KIXP captain for the IPL 2020 earlier this year.
