AB de Villiers out, Chris Gayle in for Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Lions IPL T20

Chris Gayle replaces injured AB de Villiers in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 2017 Indian Premier League game against Gujarat Lions on Tuesday. Travis Head replaces spinner Samuel Badree who also has a niggle

Chris Gayle is back in the Royal Challengers Bangalore playing XI after AB de Villiers was ruled out due to a recurrent back injury. Spinner Samuel Badree too was ruled out for Tuesday’s match against Gujarat Lions following a niggle. Travis Head has been named his replacement for the match in Rajkot. (LIVE UPDATES | LIVE SCORES )

AB de Villiers has been ruled out for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s match against Gujarat Lions in the 2017 Indian Premier League due to injury. (BCCI)

Read | How a phone call from his wife helped AB de Villiers make a successful comeback in IPL

AB de Villiers joined Royal Challengers Bangalore, the IPL 2016 runners-up, only after recovering from a back problem, and hit a brilliant 89 not out in a losing cause in his first match. However, the South Africa stalwart ruled himself out in the crucial match against Gujarat Lions, announcing that in his Twitter account that he was not fit. The nature of the injury is not yet clear.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have so far won only one of their five matches, suffering their last defeat against Rising Pune Supergiant, at their home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium, on Sunday. In response to the injury news, the official Twitter account of Gujarat Lions also replied to de Villiers in a ‘cheeky’ way.

RCB’s injury woes have hurt them this season. Skipper Virat Kohli did not start due to a shoulder injury suffering while fielding in the home Test series against Australia. India opener, KL Rahul, is also out of IPL 2016 due to a shoulder injury.

RCB are currently eighth and last in the points table. Gujarat Lions are seventh in the eight-team competition. Tuesday’s match in Rajkot, Gujarat Lions’ home base, will start at 8 pm.