New Delhi: Universe Boss Chris Gayle has been in phenomenal form in this year’s IPL. Ignored in the opening two encounters, the destructive 38-year-old made a sensational arrival in the third match for his new franchise Kings XI Punjab. After scoring a blistering 63 against Chennai, Gayle slammed the first century of the eleventh edition of the IPL against Sunrisers Hyderabad, singlehandedly winning two matches for Punjab. The onslaught also helped him in winning back to back man of the match awards.


In the past 10 seasons of the IPL, Gayle of this sort was missing. The Jamaican used to come in the middle, tried to whack the bowlers out of the park and that was it! Sometimes bat connected with the ball but on multiple occasions Gayle failed.


But this time around it’s different. Chris Galye this season has completely overhauled his batting style. Apart from clobbering the bowlers which has been his hallmark, Gayle can be seen taking cheeky singles and doubles while batting which was earlier missing from his game. The stand and deliver attitude now seems to have gone and intent can clearly be seen in his batting this IPL. So what transpired him to show such kind of batting display?


The T20 superstar was ignored in the IPL auctions held this year in January. After going unsold on the opening day, Gayle was bought in the closing hours on Day 2 by Kings XI Punjab at a base price of INR 2 crores. That clearly has sunk in Gayle’s mind. Battered and bruised by the setback at the auctions, revamped Gayle this time is on the field just to prove his critics wrong. Cricket pundits including his former franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore wrote off the 38-year-old and chose to ignore him at the auctions.


Recalling the time, Gayle in a recent interview to Times of India has revealed that RCB told him prior to the auctions that he would be retained but never called him back.


"I was their biggest draw. It was disappointing from that end, because they had called me," Gayle told Times of India. "They wanted me in the team and I was told that I will be retained. But they never called back after that. So that gave me the impression that they didn't want me and it's fine,”Gayle said.


"As I said, I can't fight with anyone. I think I had a wonderful CPL (Caribbean Premier League) and BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) - where I scored two centuries for my side Rangpur Riders. The stats don't lie: 21 centuries, most number of sixes. If that doesn't put a stamp on brand Chris Gayle, I don't know what will," he added.


The West Indian has been arguably the most destructive batsman in Indian Premier League's (IPL) history. Across 10 seasons, Gayle has smashed 3,878 runs at a strike rate of over 150, which includes six centuries. Out of the 10 season, Gayle represented RCB for the last seven years but is now unarguably the ‘King’ of Punjab.