17 May,2011 08:47 AM IST | | Ashwin Ferro
He may have been snoring away in his hotel room some 10 kms away from the HPCA Stadium here last afternoon, but Chris Gayle remained the point of discussion at both pre-match press conferences here yesterday on the eve of the Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers' Bangalore IPL clash. RCB's Gayle preferred to skip the practice session yesterday as skipper Virat Kohli claimed he was a bit tired from the travel and felt his body needed rest. "He is fit to play for tomorrow nonetheless," added Kohli.u00a0
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Gayle has been in impeccable form ever since his late entry in the fourth edition of the tournament, amassing 436 runs off seven matches at a strike rate of 201.85. He has scored two centuries and a fifty and even tops the sixes list with 32. It's no wonder then that while his team wants him to keep up the tempo, the opponents hope he doesn't. "Before Chris came in for us, myself, AB de Villiers and Tillakeratne Dilshan were sharing the burden of batting at the top of the order. But ever since he has come in, he has taken all the batting responsibility upon himself and it's been wonderful," said Kohli.u00a0
With 17 points in the bag, RCB have already made it to the play-offs. However Kohli is not content with just that. "Tomorrow we will go all out. We have made it to the play-offs so now we want to consolidate our position in the Top Two. Besides, there is no pressure on us, so it's the best time to go out and play some carefree cricket," the dashing middle-order batsman added.
Kings XI Punjab are wary of the Gayle storm. "He is the man in form so it will be pretty foolish for us to discount him," said bowling coach Jason Gillespie. "We do have some plans for Gayle and the idea is for our young bowlers to go out there with the belief that the plan will work. Gayle is a unique challenge, but at the end of the day, he too is human and he can mis-hit a ball or nick one. But yes, he's been in great form and it will be nice to knock him over early," said the former Australian pacer.u00a0u00a0
Today's tie remains a must-win one for Punjab, who are on 12 points with two games in hand.
