Chris Gayle, Royal Challenger Bangalore's (RCB) dashing opening batsman, will miss the next two Indian Premier League (IPL) games of the franchise - against Mumbai Indians, on April 20th, and Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG), on April 22nd, as he has flown back to Jamaica to be with his partner, Natasha Berridge, who is expecting the couple's first child.
RCB's middle order batsman, Sarfaraz Khan confirmed his departure while the West Indian batsman has also written about his impending fatherhood on Instagram. "Chris flew back immediately after RCB's last match (against Delhi Daredevils on April 17). We did not expect this. He got a call and flew back home," a source close to the Bangalore based franchise said.
The Caribbean master blaster, who has endured a slow start to this year's campaign with scores of 1 and 0. However, his poor form hasn't hindered the side, with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers more than making up for the lack of runs from the West Indian opener. RCB ran up totals of 227 and 191 in their two matches, and have logged in one win and one loss so far.
RCB are already without Mitchell Starc (ruled out of the entire season) and Samuel Badree (recovering from a finger injury) and bowling has remained their Achilles heel. In Gayle's absence, the team management might well be prompted into playing an additional overseas bowling option, bringing Adam Milne and Kane Richardson into contention. Australia's Travis Head is the back-up batting option available for the Virat Kohli-led outfit.