Shades of Gayle's intimidating best in Eden bash

Being the Universe Boss, Chris Gayle had already announced on air that he was going to be different tonight. After failing to get into double digits in eight consecutive innings, he had to do something different.

"I wasn't really putting pressure on myself," Gayle said during a chat with the commentators while fielding, much before he went out to bat. "I have done it so many times over the years, so I am allowed maybe to have 10 failures in a row. You can't kill a Universe Boss for that. I'm looking forward to bigger, better things. Hopefully this is just the start of Chris Gayle coming back."

The first sign of a different Gayle was immediate: the Jamaican went to bat wearing a half-sleeve jersey. He might have been making a fashion statement or not, but his well-toned biceps and arms that have decimated the best bowlers over the years could not be missed.

Gayle has never been shy about talking up his intentions. And he has never bothered when he has failed. But whenever he has succeeded, the world has watched in awe. So when Morne Morkel offered him length and speed in the middle of his first over, Gayle scored consecutive boundaries, one over mid-on and the next - against a 140 kph delivery - over midwicket. It didn't matter to Gayle that he slogged wildly at the next ball, a 122 kph slower delivery, and ended up missing and falling over to the off side. That might have been unsettling to watch, but Gayle was composed against the short delivery outside off stump from fellow Jamaican Andre Russell, which was shot back over the straight boundary for the first six. Russell quickly asked Piyush Chawla to move back to long-on.

Russell went for a short-of-a-length ball outside the off stump as a follow-up. Gayle did not bat an eyelid against the 137 kph delivery while pulling Russell high over the deep square-leg boundary for his second six. If that wasn't painful enough, Russell had lost his footing in his follow-through and fell flat on his back heaving, his big hands covering his sweat-stained face. Russell might be a heavyweight in his own right, but when you are felled by another, in front of a home crowd screaming "aar cee bee, aaar cee bee", the pain, the pressure, the embarrassment can be unbearable.

Considering Gayle had not been in form, Russell and Morkel opted for the short-ball attack in the hope that Gayle would mis-time. However, Gayle was actually rooted to his crease and dispatching balls with ease - a sign he was back to normal. When Morkel returned for his second over and banged another ball short but at a slower speed, Gayle just opened the face of the bat and ramped it over backward point for another four.

What helped Gayle was the presence of Virat Kohli, the IPL Boss. Ultra-confident and reading bowlers, pitches and situations effortlessly, Kohli has been the catalyst that has kept Royal Challengers alive in the tournament.

When Sunil Narine came on to bowl in the fifth over, Kohli urged Gayle to keep playing boldly. Gayle did just that as he hit Narine for consecutive boundaries - two of his best shots of the evening. The first was a powerful sweep and the next a drive through cover along the ground.

When Chawla came on, Kohli signalled to Gayle to hit straight over the bowler's head. Gayle nodded. The penultimate delivery of the over went past Gayle's outside edge. He sent the next delivery, a floating legbreak, over long-on for six. Such was his confidence that Gayle did not even raise his head in the follow-through.

When Narine came back, Gayle launched into the offspinner and clubbed him over the off side for another six. But off the next delivery, Narine pushed the arm-ball - about 92 kph - right into Gayle's back leg to trap him plumb in front. Gayle was one short of his first half-century this season.

Gayle might missed the milestone, but he reinforced his credentials as the chief tormentor of the Knight Riders, his former franchise. No other batsman has dominated Gambhir's team as Gayle has: he has 339 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 162.20, including two centuries and two half-centuries. Last IPL, Gayle fell four runs sort of another ton, but single-handedly helped Royal Challengers chase a stiff target after all the specialist batsmen had failed, barring AB de Villiers.

The way Kohli and de Villiers have been batting this IPL, and given the convincing manner in which they nailed the chase after Gayle's exit, Royal Challengers might have won even without Gayle. But Kohli and de Villiers would be the first to admit that Gayle made the difference today.

In the end, the Universe Boss kept his word.