Gujarat Lions will look for ‘first-timer’s luck’ in the IPL-9. It has probably made the right moves so far.
The Rajkot-based franchise first chose an ideal set of five players from a select pool of players from the suspended but champion teams Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) and then filled the squad with experienced and promising youngsters at the auction.
Skipper Suresh Raina has every reason to believe that his team has the resources and power to notch adequate number of wins and let out a big roar.
Moreover the Lions have the local ‘laadla’, Ravindra Jadeja, in its ranks to create a buzz in the stadium. The Lions will play five of the seven home matches at Rajkot.
They will also benefit from other seasoned campaigners like Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo. Playing the big boundary shots has become the new order to make up for dot balls and coach Brad Hodge has fine stroke-players and big hitters who go after the bowlers straightaway and have a ball in the middle.
Home advantage
Clearly, the Gujarat Lions will derive much advantage from the low and slow turner at its home ground. The slow left-arm varieties of Jadeja can work wonders. The Lions not only have skilful bowlers like Bravo, Faulkner, Praveen Kumar and Pravin Tambe to make the most of the rough but also the master new-ball operator Dale Steyn.
There is curious interest around the selection of the ‘chinaman’ bowler Shivil Kaushik, whose action resembles that of South African ‘Frog-in-the-blender’ Paul Adams.
The 20-year-old, who has no experience in the BCCI’s first class or limited-over tournaments, has played seven matches for Hubli Tigers in the Karnataka Premier League.
A heady mix of attacking batsmen, experienced all-rounders, quality spinners (including the canny, wicket-taking wrist spinner Tambe) and superb fielders make the Lions a team to watch out for.
Strengths: Skipper Suresh Raina brings in value as the highest run-getter (132 matches, 3699 runs) in the IPL and also being a member of two-time champion CSK. As a leader, he gets a chance to show his Twenty20 tactical nous for the first time and reveal how different he is from his mentor Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Raina’s Lions have enough talent to make the play-offs.
Weaknesses: Opponents will fancy their chances against a number of Indian batsmen who are not experienced in top class T20 competitions. Akshdeep Nath, Ishan Kishan (India U-19 captain), Eklavya Dwivedi (wicketkeeper) and Amit Mishra (right-arm medium-pacer), who have sparkled intermittently in domestic tournaments, are part of the squad.
Team list: Suresh Raina (captain), Akshdeep Nath, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Dinesh Karthik, Shivil Kaushik, Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Pradeep Sangwan, Jaydev Shah, Umang Sharma, Pravin Tambe, Paras Dogra, Eklavya Dwivedi, Sarabjit Ladda and Amit Mishra; James Faulkner, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith, Dale Steyn and Andrew Tye. Coach: Brad Hodge.
