IPL flashback: Top 10 Talking Points from the 2018 season

#6 Chris Gayle turns back the clock

Chris Gayle showed glimpses of his destructive ability with the bat

Imagine, you have stamped your authority on almost every season of the IPL since its inception; you have flayed bowling attacks at will; you have the most number of sixes and the highest individual score in the league; you have been the cornerstone of the success of your previous franchise. One bad season (2017) and suddenly you find yourself no buyers in next years auction before one franchise takes you for a poultry sum, and then you spend the first two games of the season warming the benches.

This is exactly what happened with Chris Gayle. The swashbuckling West Indian batsman nearly went unsold in the 2018 auctions before Kings XI Punjab bought him in the final round. Gayle was benched for the first two games, and what did he do when he finally got a chance against the Chennai Super Kings. He scores a 33-ball 63 to lead his side to a 4-run win before shellacking a 63-ball 104 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and follows it up another blistering half-century in the next game.