Veteran batsman Chris Gayle is celebrating his 42nd birthday today. But he received an unlikely birthday present from his IPL franchise Punjab Kings as he didn’t feature in the playing XI against Rajasthan Royals in Dubai.
Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar was bemused by this selection call and said it doesn’t make any sense to drop him on his birthday. Kevin Pietersen was also left stunned by this decision from PKBS.
Also Read: Chris Gayle turns 42, fans pour wishes
KL Rahul won the toss and opted to bowl first and named Aiden Markram in the playing XI and was preferred over Gayle. Nicholas Pooran, Adil Rashid and Fabian Allen are the other three overseas players of PKBS.
“I am astonished that Chris Gayle is not playing. The fact remains, on your birthday, you need one of the stellar players of the T20 format. He has dominated every single T20 league and you drop him for this game on his birthday makes zero sense,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Pietersen, who interviewed Gayle just before the toss, was also baffled with Punjab’s team selection and couldn’t understand why they would leave out the Universe Boss on his birthday.
Also Read: Chris Gayle announces to visit Pakistan
“I think he will be disappointed more than us. We can talk about it. There will be some questions asked. I don’t understand why you would leave Chris Gayle out on his birthday. I explained how much emotion he has and how excited he was,” said Pietersen.
“He was sporting a big smile. If there was one game you were going to play him, it was today. I can’t understand the thinking at all.”
Fans were also left stunned as Gayle couldn’t feature in the playing XI on his birthday. Here is how Twitter reacted to this game;
#PBKSvRR
Miller and Gayle sitting in the dugout pic.twitter.com/iurvbVrnYg— Savage (@CutestFunniest) September 21, 2021
You are not a clown, you are the entire circus!#PBKSvRR pic.twitter.com/d4ztSGvWPz
— JC (@jc_writes_) September 21, 2021
Will Miss @henrygayle 's Sixes!! 🤦🏻
Happy Birthday Boss #ChrisGayle #PBKSvRR #IPL2021
— Ardent Thala AJITH Fanboy (@Thalajithfanboy) September 21, 2021
Happy Birthday Chris Gayle. Really missing u in action today against Rajasthan Royals!!#PBKSvRR #PBKS #ChrisGayle
— Arko Prabha Mukherjee (@PrabhaArko) September 21, 2021
Worst that The Universal Boss #ChrisGayle is not on field #PBKS VERY BAD ON HIS BDAY@ChrisGayleWI @henrygayle
it's such a shame— suriya velan (@suriya_velan) September 21, 2021
Kl and kumble both clowns didn't include Chris Gayle on his b'day,
Wtf man #ChrisGayle #PBKSvsRR #klrahul— Nitish Sharma (@sharmaegy) September 21, 2021
Punjab Kings, seventh in the points table, bowled well against Rajasthan Royals, who got off to a flying start thanks to Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal. But PKBS bowlers pulled things back during the death overs and restricted RR to 185 in 20 overs. Arshdeep Singh bagged a fifer and sucked the life out of RR innings.
