It was the 2011 Indian Premier League season when Chris Gayle who went unsold in the auction was drafted into the Royal Challengers Bengaluru side mid-way through the season in place of injured Dirk Nannes. The introduction of Gayle changed the fortunes of RCB that season taking them into the final. With his blistering batting at the top Gayle would turn the games one-sided. However, one chink in the armor the Caribbean had was dealing with willy Chennai Super Kings off-spinner R Ashwin.
In the final that season RCB was given a target of 206 runs at the Chinnaswamy stadium which was a batting paradise. However, CSK skipper at the time MS Dhoni would turn to Ashwin with the new ball who would repay the faith of the skipper by picking Gayle in the first over. “Chris Gayle could hit anyone for sixes and fours but all it took for Ashwin to dismiss him was four balls. When Ashwin got the ball in his hand, Gayle’s legs started shaking,” Krishnamachari Srikkanth said during a book launch in Chennai.
Ashwin has picked up Gayle five times in his IPL career and Gayle has a strike rate of 82.8 against the off-spinner.
Ashwin would go on to pick up three wickets in the match helping CSK win their second IPL title. “The man who identified him as a great T20 bowler was Dhoni. Ashwin has evolved from T20 to ODIs to Test in an amazing manner. He is not only a good bowler, but also a great batter,” Srikkant would recall.
“When we first met Ashwin, he was playing Ranji for Tamil Nadu in the early 2000s (he made his first-class debut in 2006). I was involved in TNCA administration back then. We formed a great bond of friendship during the 2009 IPL in South Africa,” Chennai CEO Kasi Viswanathan said.
Ashwin will return to CSK for the upcoming IPL season after being brought by the franchise for a whooping sum of 9.75 crores at the auction
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
