In Kannada, the local language of Bengaluru, ‘gaylee’ means ‘to tease’. And like most Indian languages a word has different connotations at different times. To mock, to poke fun, are some of the other meanings. At the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, many of these connotations were played out to the hilt, perhaps inadvertently.
Chris Gayle at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. Solaris ImagesChris Gayle at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. Solaris Images
In November last year, when South Africa’s AB de Villiers played his 100th Test in Bengaluru, the rousing reception he received from the crowd was simply unbelievable. Chants of ‘ABD, ABD’ were so loud, constant and intense that his wife, mother and father sitting beside the media box were moved to admit to us that not even in their home country would he have got such a fantastic reception.
Now cut to the present ICC World T20 Championship. West Indies’ opener Chris Gayle proved that if there was one non-Indian cricketer that the Bengaluru crowd loved and worshiped more than ‘ABD’ then it surely had to be Gayle – the Boss of the T20 Universe!
His sensational hundred against England at the Wankhede had already brought back memories of the many pulverising innings he had played at the KSCA Stadium, including that never-to-be-forgotten 175 not out in 66 balls (13x4, 17x6) for RCB against Pune Warriors in the IPL.
The sheer anticipation of seeing another Gayle epic was rampant and tickets sold like hot cakes immediately after the England bashing. So much so that Brijesh Patel, secretary of KSCA, admitted that they had never been sold out so quickly for a non-India match.
On Sunday, hours before the start roads leading to the venue were clogged with Gayle fans, many in West Indian colours but some also carrying RCB flags! The police and security personnel, used to such ‘fanatics’ during IPL and India matches, wisely opened the gates hours in advance and thus by the time the match started the stadium was packed to the rafters.
Gayle was the main show. Gayle was the side show and Gayle was the cynosure. The spectators went berserk even watching him limbering up before the start of the match. The eternal showman that he is, Gayle was not averse to non-verbal communication with his fans and that set them off even more. The other West Indies players and opponents Sri Lankans were mere props to the Gayle show, or so it seemed.
At the toss when the West Indies opted to field the collective groans and shouts of ‘Oh, No’ could have lifted the roof off the stadium. Such was the magnitude of the desire to see Gayle wield his punishing willow.
Initially when Sri Lanka batted the crowd, now solidly and vociferously into the match, cheered West Indies’ every success. But as the Lankans slipped to 47 for five there was a sudden shift in loyalties. Thisera Perrera and Angelo Mathews, who started piecing together a recovery of sorts, were enthusiastically egged on.
The only reason for this abrupt shift of loyalties was the realisation that unless Lanka posted a challenging total there would be all too little to see of Gayle.
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