Chris Gayle recounted a remarkable act of sportsmanship by Virat Kohli during Gayle’s first season with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. In 2011, Gayle joined RCB and quickly made an impact with a breathtaking century.
During this innings, he faced a dilemma when he was on 98 and RCB needed just 2 to win with Kohli on strike. Despite being able to score the winning runs, Kohli, who was only 22 at the time, deliberately played out the entire over so that Gayle could reach his century. Although it has been 12 years since the incident, Gayle still remembers Kohli’s touching gesture as if it had happened yesterday.
During a conversation with former RCB teammate AB de Villiers on an episode of IPL Bold Diaries, Chris Gayle recalled how Virat Kohli helped him achieve his first IPL hundred. “I remember Virat Kohli kept blocking a few balls when I was on 98 in the first match, he did so I could get to my first IPL hundred,” said Gayle.
Following Gayle’s revelation, a Twitter user shared a video clip of the over in question, which began with RCB needing 2 runs to win off 14 balls. The left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah was bowling the third last over of the innings, and when he bowled a wide to reduce the equation to just 1 run, Kohli was not pleased. Kohli blocked the final ball of the over, allowing Gayle to face the next over, which he dominated by smashing a four off Shakib Al Hasan to complete his century and lead his team to victory.
Scoring a century at a crucial juncture rejuvenated Chris Gayle’s IPL career. After lackluster performances of 171 and 292 runs in his first two seasons with KKR, Gayle was dropped from the West Indies team, and his future looked uncertain.
However, RCB took a chance on him as a replacement for the injured Dirk Nannes, and this move breathed new life into Gayle’s career. His remarkable performances for RCB, which included scoring 3163 runs across seven seasons, established him as the franchise’s most impactful player. As they say, the rest is history.