Kings XI Punjab’s (KXIP) explosive opener Chris Gayle displayed an amazing act of sportsmanship as he walked off straight towards the pavilion after edging the ball during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 match between Punjab and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s International Stadium in Pune on May 20.
The incident happened during the second over of IPL 2018 Match Number 56, when Gayle touched the ball sliding down leg from the back of a length delivery bowled by Lungi Ngidi.
The on-field umpire didn’t raise his finger, but Gayle opted to walk off without even opening his account. TV replays then showed that ball touched the gloves of Gayle and MS Dhoni made no mistake behind the stumps.
Following Gayle’s this sportsmanship, Twitterati hailed the left-handed batsman:
Gayle excellent sportsmanship ___
— RAINA’S Preetha (@PreethaRaina3) 20 May 2018
Chris Gayle walked out even even the umpire didn’t say that it was a wicket_ this is how sportsman should be__ #CSKvKXIP
— Random Person (@being_jananee) 20 May 2018
Chris Gayle departs for DUCK!
Lungi Strikes. #WhistlePodu #Yellove #CSKvKXIP pic.twitter.com/jzAK1NNCf1— MS Dhoni Fans #Dhoni (@msdfansofficial) 20 May 2018
@henrygayle walking off when the ball clipped his gloves and now asking for a review from third umpire on a clean catch he wasn’t sure about is why cricket is still a gentleman’s game. #Respect
— Sandeep Palakkal (@Psandeep1117) 20 May 2018
Earlier, CSK skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and invited KXIP to bat first. KXIP kept losing wickets at quick intervals as they could only manage to post a modest 153 against CSK in the last league encounter of the IPL 2018.
KXIP need to win this game by a margin of more than 50 runs to qualify for the playoffs.
Brief scores:
Kings XI Punjab: 153 all out in 19.4 overs (Karun Nair 54, Manoj Tiwary 35; Lungi Ngidi 4/10) vs Chennai Super Kings.
