IPL 2017: Royal Challengers Bangalore batting coach Trent Woodhill backs Chris Gayle to fire soon

What’s the story?

The Royal Challengers Bangalore, despite having the best batting line-up on paper in the Indian Premier league, are facing a tough time trying to time the ball. But for the batting coach of RCB, this seems to be a temporary issue and he remains optimistic of a future turn-around.

“Rahul is a world-class player, his absence is massive. It is opportunity time, it is about players coming in and doing what KL did for us last year,” said the coach on players missing this year’s IPL.

He also expressed confidence on Chris Gayle, saying, “Chris is hitting the ball well in the nets and he’s not far away from a big score. Write off Chris at your own peril. He’s hot a fantastic record here (Bangalore).”

In case you didn’t know...

Chris Gayle, the run machine of the RCB’s batting line-up, like the rest of the team, has been unable to get his game going. In all the three games that he has played so far, he has returned to the dressing room with a score which does not match the standards he has come to set in the past.

In the three matches that he has played so far, he has a batting average of just 20. Due to his inconsistency, he was dropped against the Kings XI Punjab.

The heart of the matter

Ahead of the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s home game on 16^th of April, the team had an optional practise session in the M Chinnaswamy stadium one day prior to the match. The West Indies cricketer who is yet to hit a big knock for the team was seen hitting the ball confidently in the session. For the coach, there was no other delight better than seeing the big man gain his confidence.

Chris Gayle is just three runs away from scoring 10,000 T20 runs and this won’t take long, according to the coach. And his record at the M Chinnaswamy has been explosive; Gayle scored a massive score of 175 from just 66 balls in the 6^th edition of the IPL.

What’s next?

Royal Challengers Bangalore play their third home game against the Rising Pune Supergiants on 16^th of April. Having won just one of their four matches, the team composition will be a matter of curiosity.

Author’s take

For the RCB, this might be a problem for now, but once Gayle regains his form, the team will once again have the most destructive batting line-up. And RCB will be hoping that the sooner the better for them.