Designed for you: Virat Kohli asks Chris Gayle to return to IPL as Impact Player

Virat Kohli hilariously asked Chris Gayle to return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year as an Impact Player. Gayle was present in the stands along with other big names like Smriti Mandhana and Anushka Sharma when RCB faced CSK in the IPL 2024 match on Saturday, May 18 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

After RCB made it to the playoffs, Gayle visited their dressing room to congratulate their cricketers. The players were delighted to see the Universe Boss. Adding a bit of humour to the happy environment, Kohli requested Gayle to play in the IPL as an Impact Player.

"Kaka, come back next year, impact player is on now. You don't have to field anymore. It's designed for you," Kohli said in the video uploaded on the social media handles of RCB.

After the match against CSK, Kohli went to the top of the list of leading 6-hitters in the ongoing tournament. In 14 games, the 35-year-old has hit 37 sixes and is also the Orange Cap holder with 708 runs at an average of 64.36 and a strike-rate of 155.60.

Kohli slipped to second in the table after Abhishek Sharma of SRH toppled him. Abhishek hit 6 sixes in the match against PBKS on Sunday and currently has 41 sixes to his name from 13 matches.

Gayle's incredible career for RCB

As far as Gayle is concerned, he started his IPL career by playing for KKR before making a move to RCB. Thereafter, he ended his career by playing a couple of seasons for PBKS.

Gayle is currently the third-highest run-scorer for RCB in T20 cricket, having scored 3420 runs from 91 matches at an average of 43.29 and a strike-rate of 154.40 with 5 centuries and 21 half-centuries.

RCB are next set to cross swords with Sanju Samson's RR on Wednesday, May 22 in the Eliminator at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.