Gayle, whose unbeaten 175 is the highest individual score in T20 cricket, took the Pune Warriors India attack apart on a flat Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore, hitting 17 sixes and 13 fours. His charge was temporarily halted by rain, right after he hit Ishwar Pandey for two consecutive boundaries off the first two deliveries of the second over.

Gayle revealed how he, along with teammate Ravi Rampaul, targetted a 170-180-run total during the rain break, to give themselves a decent chance against Pune.

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“I remember after facing the first couple of overs, rain interrupted the game,” Gayle recalled. “I went inside and Ravi Rampaul was there in the team at that time as well. And I said to Rampaul, ‘That wicket outside is a real belter. We need to get at least 170-180 to actually give ourselves a chance at winning the game.’ Because the wicket was so good.”

As it turned out, Gayle single-handedly surpassed the intended team target, resuming the onslaught despite the break and powering RCB to 263. His then-RCB teammate AB de Villiers played a quickfire 8-ball-31 knock as well, which, as light-heartedly claimed by Gayle, stopped him from getting to T20 cricket’s first-ever double century.

“And then, eventually, I went back out after the rain interruption and picked up from where I left off,” he added. “I was in that flow, that rhythm. Sometimes as a batsman you know that you cannot do anything wrong and that was one of the days. It was remarkable and so funny that I end up with 175 and I was saying that should be the team total.

“I could have got 200 if ABD didn’t come in and steal the show as well.”