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Watch: Punjab Kings' Chris Gayle dances out of quarantine ahead of IPL 2021

WION Web Team
New Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Apr 07, 2021, 06:58 PM IST
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Photograph:(Twitter)

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‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle on Wednesday joined the Punjab Kings squad after finishing his mandatory seven-day quarantine ahead of the much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, starting April 9. The West Indies opener is one of the key players for the Punjab outfit and the KL Rahul-led outfit would be hoping for a fruitful season from the veteran. 

‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle on Wednesday joined the Punjab Kings squad after finishing his mandatory seven-day quarantine ahead of the much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, starting April 9. The West Indies opener is one of the key players for the Punjab outfit and the KL Rahul-led outfit would be hoping for a fruitful season from the veteran. 

Punjab Kings took to social media platform Twitter to post a video of Gayle while providing the update of him completing the quarantine ahead of the lucrative T20 tournament. In the video, Gayle is seen breakdancing on Michael Jackson’s famous song ‘Smooth Criminal’.

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Gayle has played as many as 132 IPL matches while scoring a staggering 4772 runs at a strike rate of 150.11. The left-handed batsman, who batted at number three for the Punjab franchise in IPL 2020, has amassed six centuries and 31 half-centuries in the tournament while blasting 349 sixes.

Last season, Gayle missed the first half of IPL but came back strong in the second half wherein he scored 288 runs in seven matches at an average of 41.44. 

Meanwhile, Gayle is also set to face stiff competition from new recruits Dawid Malan, Moises Henriques, Fabian Allen for the overseas slot in the batting order.

Punjab Kings’ Head of Cricket Operations, Anil Kumble, in an exclusive interview with WION, talked about the selection headache as he explained how Punjab Kings planned for the auctions for the 14th edition of the tournament.

“What we needed was some experience in the all-round department, somebody who's played here before somebody who's been a part of winning teams. I mean, Moises brings that experience to the squad. Fabian, again is an exciting young all-rounder from West Indies, we all know, the power-hitting that they bring to the table and in this format, he's done exceptionally well is he's a young all-rounder. So it's nice to have him based on conditions obviously, you know, he's a very good left-hand spinner and then really hits the ball hard. And Dawid Malan brings experience and somebody who can sort of give support to the Indian batters that we have,” Kumble told WION.

“So we wanted a steady, someone who you can depend on. And then the firepower of Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran and Fabian Allen as a foreigner. Plus Moises and Dawid Malan sort of give you the comfort of you know them really free KL Rahul more so I think that's the kind of options that we wanted we're really glad that we got those. We also wanted a young Indian power-hitting batsman like a Shahrukh Khan. I'm really excited as he really hits the ball hard and it's good to have him as well in the squad. Like I mentioned it's all about having all bases covered and I think we have a pretty strong you know squat to choose from,” the former India captain and also the head of ICC’s Cricket Committee concluded.

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Punjab Kings open their IPL 2021 campaign against Rajasthan Royals on Monday (April 12) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.