Why Chris Gayle did not open: KL Rahul's reason: 'You need to keep the lion hungry'

Chris Gayle came out to bat at No 3 and made a cracking fifty

Sharjah, October 15: Chris Gayle made his first appearance in the IPL 2020 as he took the field against Royal Challengers on Thursday (October 15). The Kings XI Punjab batsman made the occasion memorable too cracking a typically belligerent fifty.

But the lone exception was that Gayle did not come out to bat as opener as he batted at No 3. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal had done well as openers for Kings XI and they persisted with the pair. Rahul offered a reason in the post-match presentation.

"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.

This is Rahul's first stint as captain in the IPL and the Kings XI leader said team's performance mattered more than his.

"This is my first time as captain, you don't really reflect on your own performance. As a leader, you need to think of everybody and how to keep the 15 or the 25 (players) balanced and hungry to do well. That's been the challenge. So, personal performances haven't been on my mind so much," he said.

Rahul said the entire team was relieved to register a win after six successive defeats in IPL 2020 and underlined his thought saying the Kings XI is a far better side than the points table suggests.

"We knew that we had to scrap and get over the line and that would give us the confidence. We're a far better side than being at the bottom of the table. Towards the end, it got too close for comfort but happy that we made it today.

"It's very natural to feel disappointed and frustrated and it's not just me, as a group we've been frustrated. Our skills were very good, probably didn't capitalise in the big moments starting with the first game against Delhi. There are ups and downs and this has been the kind of rollercoaster that's been crazy but on a positive note we needed this win," he signed off.