Published 15:32 IST, October 16th 2020
IPL 2020: Yuvraj Singh in awe of Gayle's power-hitting; surprised by Bangalore's strategy
On Friday, former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh hailed the West Indies legend Chirs Gayle's batting performance in his comeback match for Punjab
Advertisement
On Friday, former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh hailed the West Indies legend Chirs Gayle's batting performance in his comeback match for Punjab. The Punjab batter made full use of the opportunity and announced his arrival by hitting a brilliant 45-ball 53. Chris Gayle's knock was laced with one four and five towering sixes.
In awe of Gayle's power-hitting, Yuvraj Singh took to Twitter and further lauded skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal for giving the team a good start. Furthermore, Singh said he was surprised by the Bangalore's decision of demoting AB de Villiers down the order.
If the universe boss @henrygayle middles the ball it will land in abu dabhi from Sharjah 😂! @klrahul11 and @mayankcricket great start to the chase ! Hopefully these guys should finish the game ! Surprised to see @ABdeVilliers17 coming to bat so late ! #RCBvKXIP #IPL2020
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) October 15, 2020
The Bangalore think tank surprised everyone by altering the batting order as they promoted Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube ahead of AB de Villiers. This move raised a lot of eyebrows as fans questioned the intention behind demoting AB de Villiers, who had recently played a match-winning knock of 73 off 33 balls against Kolkata.
Veteran batsman AB de Villiers, who was in blistering form when the franchise last played at the venue in Dream11 IPL 2020, could not replicate the same success this time around. AB de Villiers had a short stay at the crease and could only manage 2 runs from 5 deliveries.
Virat Kohli opens up on decision to demote AB de Villiers
After the Bangalore-Punjab game was done and dusted, Virat Kohli was asked about the decision to promote Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube ahead of AB de Villiers. The Bangalore skipper responded saying that the management had a discussion about the left-hand, right-hand combination which is why AB de Villiers was sent in at No. 6. However, Kohli acknowledged it was his decision and added that sometimes these decisions taken, don’t come off.
Virat Kohli further said that 170 was a decent target. The 31-year old reckoned that the message to Sundar and Dube was to go after the bowling attack and hit big shots but they weren't able to put the opposition under pressure. Virat Kohli stated that they take a lot of pride as a bowling side, but Thursday was not one of those nights as nothing worked out for them.
15:32 IST, October 16th 2020