Soon after the clock ticked 6.40 PM, the Royal Challengers Bangalore bus entered the M Chinnaswamy - much to the delight of the crowd, that had queued up to get into the venue. Twenty minutes after that, the players were out there warming up for the clash against Delhi Daredevils.
The biggest cheers were reserved for Virat Kohli but when Chris Gayle walked out to take throw downs just in front of the pavilion, the noise, even with the stadium half packed, was deafening. The burly left-hander, unfazed by all this, started taking the throw downs from Mandeep Singh. He meant business. The usual smile was missing and it seemed as if Gayle was trying to channel the inner 'beast mode'.
The belligerent batsman has been dismissed for single digit scores in each of his last five innings. On Sunday (April 17), he was undone by some really good swing bowling from Zaheer Khan.
Zaheer, with some appreciable movement in the air and off the deck, teased Gayle by keeping it just outside off and kept moving it away. The left-hander edged the third ball to JP Duminy at first slip, who dived to his left to complete a tough catch.
Gayle walked off with a dejected look on his face and the crowd were soon focusing on the show AB de Villiers and Kohli were putting up. However, while Gayle's innings lasted just a few minutes it left a puzzling question that has been lingering for quite some time now.
After his mesmerising century against England in the World T20 game in Mumbai, Gayle hasn't been at his best. Things were made worse when he picked up an injury in Bangalore in the game against Sri Lanka and was forced to miss the subsequent game.
Shane Watson's inclusion into the squad gives Kohli and de Villiers the freedom to play audacious strokes, but with Gayle firing, there is a very good chance that Bangalore will start batting their opponents out of contests.
When Kohli was asked about Gayle's form in the post-match press conference, instead of getting miffed, he offered a smile as if he was expecting the question. "Well we got to 230 without him firing and then we almost got 200 without him firing today, so I don't know what's going to happen when he fires," he gushed. "We obviously want everyone to score runs but that does not happen all the time.
"Chris takes a lot of pride in playing for RCB and performing for us. He has been a standout performer for us. People expect a lot from him in every game in T20 cricket because he's so good at it. He's got so many centuries and that's no joke. Expectations are high and he wants to live upto them.
"I'm sure he'll come good at some stage in the tournament. Maybe in the most important stage if not the first few games, when we need him the most and he'll go out and get a hundred for us. I'm not too worried about his form. The other guys are stepping up nicely and that's what this game is all about. When someone doesn't do well, others have to go out there and grab the opportunity."
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