One of the most daunting batters of his era, West Indies great Chris Gayle enjoyed a great fan following during his time with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Gayle, who played at RCB for seven years between 2011-2017, was first cricketer the team put in their Hall of Fame last year, along with former South Africa captain AB de Villiers. During a recent interaction, Gayle called the RCB fans as the best in the IPL.
"RCB is one of the best fanbases I've experienced. When the Chinnaswamy Stadium starts chanting 'RCB! RCB!' It's the best. RCB has the best fans," Gayle told former India player Robin Uthappa on the 'Home of Heroes' show on JioCinema.
To further back his claim, Gayle recalled an incident when one of his towering sixes accidentally broke a fan's nose.
"The ball ricocheted off the wall and hit a young girl in the nose. Immediately, I went straight to the hospital and saw her with bloody nose and bloody clothes. She was like, 'why are you sad? Don't worry, hit more sixes!' That was so amazing man! She helped me feel better by telling me that even when she's in pain she wanted me to hit more sixes. It was a touching moment. The next game, every fan had a placard saying, 'please break my nose', so I could go visit them in the hospital," he added.
Gayle, who started his IPL career with Kolkata Knight Riders, moved to RCB ahead of the 2011 season.
He then played for six seasons at RCB, amassing 3,163 runs with the help of fice centuries.