Chris Gayle is the greatest T20 batsman ever: Nicholas Pooran

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Bengaluru, October 16: West Indian batsman Nicholas Pooran who hit a last-ball six to help Kings XI Punjab beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight wickets in Match 31 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 believes his compatriot Chris Gayle is the greatest T20 batsman ever.

After warming up the bench for most of the time and later being laid down by a stomach bug, Gayle finally made his first appearance in IPL 2020 at the Sharjah Cricket stadium on Thursday (October 15) night.

The Universe Boss, as he is fondly known among his peers made an instant impact with a 45-ball 53, but was run out from the penultimate delivery with the scores level.

That left Pooran to come out and face one ball, which he proceeded to launch down the ground for six.

"For me, Gayle is the greatest T20 player who has played the game. When Chris is batting you always have a chance of winning the game. Once he is there, it is a different mood in the camp obviously," Pooran told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted by iplt20.com.

The in-form KL Rahul who stayed till the end to see KXIP through and Agarwal opened the innings with Gayle dropping down to No.3.

After a slow start, the the left-hander cut loose with a solitary four and five sixes. Even his dismissal added a little drama, but Pooran finished the job in style with a maximum off Yuzvendra Chahal.

"He started off slowly, but he has not played cricket for a long time which is acceptable. He has shown once more why he is the greatest T20 batsman. It's wonderful to see him get runs," added Pooran.

After the match, Rahul justified the rationale behind sending Gayle at No.3 instead of his customary opening slot.

"Chris has not been feeling well. But he's always been hungry. He was training hard like he's probably never done. It was a tough call to make someone like Chris sit on the bench. I won't take credit but it's important to keep the lion hungry sometimes. Wherever he bats, he's still the same player and it worked today. Hopefully he can carry on," said Rahul.