On Tuesday night, more than one person felt the heat of Chris Gayle's (81, 48b, 4x4, 8x6) powerful shots here. During the 13th over of the chase in which the Royal Challengers Bangalore opener carted Pune Warriors' Rahul Sharma for five sixes, one of the airborne strokes slammed into the nose of 11-year old Tia Bhatia in the stands.

The girl suffered nasal bleeding and amidst the commotion, she was quickly moved out and given medical attention by the Manipal Hospital staff present at the venue. Tia was then rushed to the Mallya Hospital.

“She was admitted on Tuesday night after she was hit by a ball on her nose. There was a nasal fracture and on Wednesday morning, we conducted a surgery. She is absolutely fine now,” said Dr. Kanchan Sanyal, Medical Superintendent, Mallya Hospital.

Though Tia was in a dazed state after the blow, her day was made when a concerned Gayle rushed to the hospital following the conclusion of the IPL match. Reportedly, he gave his medal for the highest number of sixes award to the pleasantly surprised girl, who sportingly exhorted Gayle to keep hitting those massive sixes. The moved opener later tweeted: “Visit Tia who got hit by 1 of my 6s, broken nose: (… her 1st word to me is to Chill, She's fine!”

According to sources, RCB is planning to invite Tia and her family to attend as guests for their next home match against Chennai Super Kings on April 25.

Meanwhile, bowlers and fans will remain wary of Gayle's muscular strikes that can dent bowlers' economy rates and threaten limbs.