Legendary icon Chris Gayle has dazzled the Indian Premier League (IPL) with his presence for more than a decade. While the T20 phenomenon represented three franchises during his illustrious career, his best-known period came in the jersey of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Spending 7 years at RCB, you’d expect Gayle to name either Virat Kohli or AB de Villiers as his favourite IPL teammates. But hang on. He had someone else on his mind.
The Chris Gayle-Sarfaraz Khan bond
Playing IPL allows youngsters to pick up the brains of international stars. The cash-rich league is a boon, especially for budding cricketers who get to know and live a life like that of superstars. One such special camaraderie between a talented young cricketer and a mega star was seen when RCB signed a certain Sarfaraz Khan for Rs 50 lac at the IPL 2015 auction.
At 17, Sarfaraz Khan became the then-youngest player ever to play in the IPL. His exquisite and innovative batting quickly made him a favourite among all the RCB members, including Chris Gayle. Interestingly, Gayle has always spoken highly of Sarfaraz. Now, when InsideSport asked Gayle to name his favourite IPL teammate, the southpaw wasted no time to name Sarfaraz, who, quite surprisingly, isn’t part of the ongoing IPL 2025 as he went unsold at the auction in Jeddah last year. Below are all the answers by Chris Gayle during his rapid-fire questions with InsideSport.
— InsideSport (@InsideSportIND) April 2, 2025
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Toughest Bowler in the IPL: Bumrah
Watch the rapid fire round with Chris Gayle@Dafanewsindia #CricketTwitter #RCB #IPL2025 pic.twitter.com/TD4c1Jju2V
IPL Rapid Fire answers for Chris Gayle
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Favourite IPL teammate | Sarfaraz Khan |
| Toughest bowler | Jasprit Bumrah |
| The team he liked playing against | Mumbai Indians |
| Team he didn’t like playing vs | CSK in Chennai |
| Best bowler in IPL history | Sunil Narine |
| Best batter in IPL history | Virat Kohli |
| Favourite place to visit in India | Bengaluru, Goa & Kerala |
| Favourite Indian food | Butter Chicken |
Chris Gayle has always known the incredible talent of Sarfaraz, who has played 6 Test matches for India and 50 IPL games in his career. As early as 2016, Gayle had predicted Sarfaraz would become one of the future superstars in Indian cricket.
“We get along well. Sarfaraz keeps texting me…He’s too young and he’s like a son to me. He’s definitely one for the future and one must keep an eye on him,” Gayle had said.
