Anil Kumble explains why KXIP did not pick Chris Gayle for the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad

Kings XI Punjab finds themselves in a very uncomfortable situation in IPL 2020 right now. The Mohali-based franchise is at the last position on the points table with only a solitary win to their name in six matches. KXIP thrashed RCB by a huge margin, but they have fallen short while playing against DC, MI, RR, CSK, and SRH. 

They will battle the Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, and a loss in that match could virtually make their future matches do or die ones. The overseas players of the team have not performed well in IPL 2020. Barring Nicholas Pooran, none of the Punjab foreign players have lived up to the hype. 

Glenn Maxwell has not performed well in six matches, while Sheldon Cottrell has been inconsistent. In the match against RR, Rahul Tewatia took 30 runs off Cottrell’s over. The fourth overseas player has been changed regularly, showing that KXIP has not found the perfect playing XI yet. 

It is noteworthy that Punjab has the Universe Boss Chris Gayle warming the benches in IPL 2020. The fans are angry with the Punjab team management because Gayle is the type of player who can walk into the playing XI of any T20 team on the planet. 

When asked about the reason why KXIP did not pick Gayle last night, the team’s head coach Anil Kumble said:

“Today we wanted Chris Gayle in the playing XI but unfortunately he’s sick. Yeah, Gayle was going to play but he is down with food poisoning for the last of a couple of days.”

Kumble said this while in conversation with the commentators during the Sunrisers Hyderabad innings. The fans are disappointed with KXIP’s performance so far. It will be interesting to see if Gayle could recover in time for the upcoming match against KKR.