The short flight from Mumbai to Rajkot on Tuesday evening reflected the merry mood of the passengers, majority of them Gujaratis. They were all thrilled to be in the Boeing aircraft in which the VIP passengers were the Gujarat Lions players who had flown from Chandigarh to Mumbai after trouncing Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the debut IPL match at Mohali and taken the connecting flight to Saurashtra’s cricketing capital.
The Lions’s first victory has warmed the cockles of Gujarati hearts. By now most of the overseas players and the non-Gujarat players will be familiar with the State’s favourite greeting Khem Cho (how are you?), having spent a few days here during a short camp.
For the first time in nine years, the Gujaratis believe they can connect passionately to a team of their own. Though the Jaipur franchise, Rajasthan Royals, had made Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium its home ground for a dozen matches, but this is the aapdo team (our team) the locals will vociferously support at the Khanderi venue here when Suresh Raina’s Lions engage in a tussle with Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Rising Pune Supergiants.
Raina has done his best to endear himself to the locals. “It’s a special occasion for everyone. Gujarat never had an IPL team in the first eight years. We are looking forward to playing for Gujarat. [Ravindra] Jadeja will be excited to play in front of his home crowd,” said Raina after a long net session on Wednesday.
The local association expects the 28,000-capacity stadium to be full even before the first ball is bowled, and that the likes of Aaron Finch, Dwayne Bravo, Dinesh Karthik and Raina have earned a lot of admirers after their Mohali performance.
Raina, who did not dwell too much upon the composition of the team, said: “For a 40-over match you need to train in all three areas — batting, bowling and fielding. There is not much to speculate in such a short game. We will field the best XI depending on the pitch.”
While the Lions trained under lights for their first big home game, the Supergiants, who arrived here in the afternoon, decided to take it easy.
M. Ashwin has a bowlHowever, leg-spinner M. Ashwin, who bowled four overs against Mumbai Indians and dismissed Shreyas Gopal during his spell of 4-0-16-1 in the inaugural match, spent some time at the nets.
The Supergiants, who crushed defending champion Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede, will be hoping to outwit the Lions in their own den.
Dhoni and Raina have spoken a lot about playing in the CSK yellows and how they miss it, but the two, as true professionals, have vowed to put their best foot forward for their new sides.
This attitude and approach should make the clash between the Lions and Supergiants a pulsating one.
