24 May,2011 06:37 AM IST | | Harit N Joshi
Though it may seem like the Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL-IV campaign revolves solely around Chris Gayle, team director Sidhartha Mallya begs to differ. The West Indies' power-hitter has made such an impact that since his arrival (on April 22, vs Kolkata Knight Riders) the team has lost just one game ufffd against Kings XI Punjab on May 17 inu00a0 Dharamsala. In that match, Gayle was out for a duck and RCB slumped to a 111-run defeat ufffd their biggest margin in IPL-IV.
RCB coach Ray Jennings with pacer Sreenath Aravind during training at
the Wankhede yesterday. pic/suresh kk
It's pretty evident that Bangalore wins when Gayle fires and vice versa, but Mallya Jr, does not think RCB is a one-man army. "I don't think we are a one-man army. Yes, Gayle has turned around the fortunes of the team and has been terrific with the bat so far, but we should not take away anything from other members of the side," Sidhartha, son of team owner and liquor baron Vijay Mallya, told MiD DAY on the sidelines of the launch of the Royal Challengers (RC) Bar at the Chhatrapati Shivaji domestic airport in Santacruz yesterday. Illustrate an example to that effect, he citedu00a0 Bangalore's last match against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, which the former won comprehensively by eight wickets. "Gayle's 75 wouldn't have made any difference had our bowlers not restricted Chennai to 120-odd runs. The fact that our bowlers restricted them to such a low score is creditable. So, it wouldn't be fair to just give credit to Gayle. He deserves most of the praise, but there are other guys doing equally well. It has been a good team effort," added Sidhartha. In nine matches Gayle has scored 511 runs at a strike rate of 187.7 and even holds the record for maximum sixes in the IPL ufffd 38. Gayle acknowledged the contribution of his teammates: "I wouldn't have done so well had we not created crucial partnerships. Virat (Kohli) batting at No 3 puts me at ease. Our bowlers have done well too."
