Gayle and Rahul both struck fine half-centuries to help KXIP beat RCB in Sharjah.
Rahul was all praise for the big Jamaican making his comeback after their 93 run partnership for the second wicket helped KXIP make 177/2 in response to RCB's 171/6. Gayle joined Rahul after the captain had laid a solid foundation with fellow opener Mayank Agarwal (45) via a stand of 78 runs.
"Firstly, this (the award) should have gone to Chris," said Rahul at the post-match presentation after only his team's second win in eight matches of the IPL 2020.
"Chris has not been feeling well in the last two weeks, but he's always been hungry. Even at 41, he always wanted to play from the day he came to Dubai. Anyone who saw him, he was training hard like he's probably never done and hitting the ball sweetly. It was a tough call to make not to play someone of that stature."
"I won't take credit but it's important to keep the lion hungry sometimes. Wherever he bats, he'll be dangerous. He has taken it up as a challenge as well. He's still the same player and is intimidating oppositions. it worked today. Hopefully, he can carry on," he added.
Despite the efforts of the top three, however, the game got really tight and tense at the end, as KXIP somehow managed to take the equation to 1 run required off the last ball when it had once read 7 needed off 12 deliveries with 9 wickets in hand.
Thankfully for his team's sake, left-hand batsman Nicholas Pooran then hit a six down the ground to end the match and also the nervousness within the change room.
"I've done yo-yo tests and played a few close games but my heart has never raced so fast before. I don't even have words," said Rahul. "We knew that we had to scrap and get over the line once and that would give us the confidence."
"We're a far better side than bottom of the table. Towards the end it got too close for comfort but happy that we made it. It's very natural to feel disappointed and frustrated and it's not just me, as a group we've been frustrated."
"Our skills were very good, probably didn't capitalise in the big moments starting with the first game at Delhi. It's part of the IPL, it's part of cricket. There are ups and downs and this has been the kind of rollercoaster that's been crazy but on a positive note we needed this win."
"At the moment, my first time as captain, you kind of don't reflect on your own performance. As a leader you need to think of everybody and how to manage the 15 or the 25 balanced and hungry to do well. That's been the challenge so personal performances haven't been on my mind so much," the captain signed off.
(Inputs from CricketNext)