IPL 2018: 5 players who made their mark in the Bangladesh Premier League

#1 Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle guided the Rangpur Riders to their maiden BPL title with a century in the finals

Do we really need to say much about this man? After an ordinary stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders, Gayle went unsold in the 2011 auctions only to be shipped in by the Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement to injured pacer Dirk Nannes. Gayle debuted for the team in red with a blistering century against his old team, the Kolkata Knight Riders. He hasn't looked back since, cruising to two orange caps, and constantly putting on a show for spectators with his majestic sixes.

He has, however, lost his way over the past couple of seasons. The last season especially saw him slump to his lowest, where he found himself struggling to even find a spot in the starting eleven. With only a handful of retentions available for each franchisee, it seemed unlikely that the Royal Challengers would retain the Chinnaswamy crowd favourite, Gayle.

Until now.

The big man from the West Indies has made a statement, and how. He smashed 485 runs at a strike rate of 176.36 in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) to earn the player of the season award and more importantly, guide his team Rangpur Riders to their maiden BPL title. Gayle started the playoffs at No. 15 in the list of run-getters, only to finish the tournament at the top, and that too by some distance.

Rangpur finished fourth on the points table and had to win three games on the trot in the playoffs to win the title. The eliminator saw them having to chase a tricky target of 167 set by the Khulna Titans. Chris Gayle absolutely decimated the bowling attack to make a mockery of the chase, smashing 126 runs in just 51 balls. He hit an incredible record 14 sixes to help chase down the target in a mere 15.2 overs.

Just as word started to spread among cricket fans about the big man's return to form, he did it again and he did it even better. In the grand finale, Gayle single-handedly knocked the sails out of Dhaka Dynamites' sails with a mammoth innings. He smashed 146 runs in 69 deliveries and took his all-time T20 run tally past the 11,000 run figure.

He annihilated his own BPL record of 14 sixes in an innings set in the eliminator, hitting an incredible 18 sixes in the final.

The T20 phenomenon that is Chris Gayle has had his say and has silenced his critics in style. Royal Challengers Bangalore will now definitely be looking at retaining the big man, after his incredible showing in Bangladesh.