'Well, we got 230 in the first match and then almost 200 in this match, without Gayle firing. Guess what would happen when he fires'
'Four guys -- Gayle, AB de Villiers, myself and Shane Watson -- of international calibre playing in one team, it always helps. You can rely on those four and turn the game for you'
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli has lent support to misfiring Chris Gayle, saying the West Indian's indifferent form is no cause for worry.
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In the Indian Premier League this season, Gayle has scores of 1 and 0 after the RCB's first two matches, and if his scores since the ICC World T20 are taken into bearing, he hasn't hit the double digits in five consecutive games.
"I am sure he will come good at some stage of the tournament. Probably, he may get hundred for us when it's required the most. I am not too worried about Gayle, because the other guys are stepping up nicely. Cricket is all about grabbing the opportunity if some others fail," Kohli told reporters after his team's seven-wicket defeat to Delhi Daredevils on Sunday.
Terming Gayle as a "standout player" for the RCB, Kohli said the 17 hundreds the West Indian has scored across all his career T20 games is "not a joke".
"Chris takes lot of pride playing for RCB. He has been a standout player for us. I think people just expect a lot out of him every T20 match he plays because he is good at it and has scored 17 centuries, which is not a joke. So, expectations are high and Gayle wants to live up to them," he said.
Despite Gayle's failures, the team scored 227 in the first game and then almost 200 (191) in the next.
"Well, we got 230 in the first match and then almost 200 in this match without Gayle firing. Guess what would happen when he fires! Four guys -- Gayle, AB de Villiers, myself and Shane Watson -- of international calibre playing in one team, it always helps. You can rely on those four and turn the game for you.".
Kohli said one cannot expect Sarfaraz Khan to come up with top performances in every match.
"What Sarfaraz did in the last game, it is not easy to repeat that feat in every game ... In first half of the game, 75 per cent, we were on the top, and they came back, 25 per cent, in last four overs, took the game away, right from the beginning. Quinton (de Kock) with Karun (Nair) coasted the team to victory in last over -- I think it was commendable effort."
He rued the lack of execution by his batters.
"A bit of it was that Delhi bowled well and lack of execution from our end. This always makes a difference, as the following batsman finds it difficult, especially at the death, to come in and straight away start hitting," he said.
Asked whether the death overs spelt the doom for Bangalore, Kohli said, "We felt we were 50 runs short, and were targeting 200. May be if I had faced 15 balls of the last four overs, we would have got to 215 as well."
Commenting on De Kock's magnificent 108, Kohli said the batsman handled the spinners exceedingly well.
"I think it was wonderful, especially how he handled spinners. It always helps as a wicketkeeper to know the pace of the wicket, and knowing which he settled down rather quickly," he said.
Terming De Kock as a quality player, the RCB skipper said the Proteas opener becomes doubly dangerous when he plays on batting surfaces.
"He is a quality player and has been doing well for South Africa in international cricket, and on a wicket which assists the batsmen, he is very dangerous player."
