When ‘Universe boss’ Chris Gayle spent 5 days in ‘King of good times’ Vijay Mallya’s Goa mansion

Playing for the ‘king of good times’ Mallya’s side, Gayle’s life soon transformed as he first became the ‘World Boss’ and then ‘Universe Boss’.

West Indian batting sensation Chris Gayle’s life changed upside-down when he was roped in by Vijay Mallya’s Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). His life was not as eventful back then, but a stint with RCB changed it forever. Playing for the ‘king of good times’ Mallya’s side, Gayle’s life soon transformed as he first became the ‘World Boss’ and then ‘Universe Boss’. His recently released autobiography ‘Six Machine: I Don’t Like Cricket…I Love It” is full of anecdotes from those days. Here’s one such anecdote from the vault. ALSO READ: Not ‘Arrogant’, Not ‘Pretender’; he is simply CHRIS GAYLE!

Gayle had heard about Mallya’s opulent mansion in Goa from RCB manager George Avinash. During an IPL season few years back, there came a time when RCB had five-day break. This is when Gayle decided to visit the villa while rest of his team-mates gave it a skip. “What to do? George pipes up again. ‘Believe me, big man, you should definitely check it out.’ Oh-kay. What could possibly go wrong? So I decide to go by myself. Fly down there, picked up in a sweet car and driven to Candolim, come down the driveway and whaaat? “It’s bigger than most hotels. It’s cooler than any house I’ve ever seen,” Gayle wrote about that particular incident.

Gayle likened the mansion to James Bond’s residence, and even referred to it as Playboy Mansion. “I’ve got the entire villa for myself. I’m getting a tour. Wherever I go I’ve got two butlers walking with me at all times. Me alone, like a king! I go in the first pool. I go in the second pool. I walk the lawn, in my robe. I go back in the pool with a Kingfisher beer and then I stay in the pool and the Kingfisher beers keep coming, which makes sense because the one place they’re not going to run out of Kingfisher beers is in the Kingfisher villa.” ALSO READ: Chris Gayle claims Brian Lara was worried during his 317-run marathon against South Africa.

There’s virtually nothing that Gayle did not do on his trip, as he drove around in a golf cart, checked into villa’s private movie theatre and also the garage, where he found a three-wheeler Harley-Davidson. So mesmerised was he with the bike that Gayle straightaway jumped on to it. He had never ridden a motorbike before, and here he was, riding one of the best.

He said: “I’ve never seen a motorbike with three wheels. But one of the butlers shows me how to drive it, and I start riding it up and down the driveway, which because this is the Kingfisher villa is the size of a racetrack. Brrrrm! I feel like the Terminator, screeching around with my shirt open and my shades down and nah, no helmet, because it’s warm and it’s a Harley and it’s the Kingfisher villa and I’m the king of the villa, the Kingfisher king, and woohoo, who knew this thing could go that fast?,” wrote Gayle. Gayle, who did not want to leave the place, had to eventually. But not before riding an elephant.