Coming into the tournament as unknown entities substituting the two tainted teams Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, the Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants created quite an impression with the impressive buys both the teams made at the player draft. While Pune opted for a batting-centered core, Gujarat made smart buys in picking four all-rounders and the one pure batsman in Brendon McCullum. With some strong inclusions from the player auctions, both the teams were all set to go in their opening encounter.
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However, both the debutants will find themselves in high spirits, having ended up on the winning end of their respective lung-openers. The Pune side led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni clinically demolished a shaky Mumbai squad, while Gujarat had to battle it out for a win against the David Miller led- Kings XI Punjab. On the 14th of April 2016 however, both the heavyweight squads will go head- to head in their first look of the other at the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium, Rajkot at 8 PM(IST).
With Gujarat sipper Suresh Raina having played all his IPL cricket under ex- CSK skipper Dhoni for the first eight seasons of the IPL, it will be interesting to see how much he has learnt under the able wings of Dhoni and how he implements his strategies to plot the downfall of the Supergiants.
Rising Pune Supergiants vs Gujarat Lions 2016 LIVE Streaming Details:
TV Channel: Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD, Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony Max
Online Stream: www.starsports.com, Hotstar App
Match Date: 14 April 2016, Thursday
Match Timing: 20:00 IST, 14:30 GMT
Match Venue: Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot
Team News:
Gujarat Lions Squad:
The Gujarat Lions think-tank will be overjoyed by the form of opener Aaron Finch who was at his marauding best, while knowing Brendon McCullum needs just a match or two to get back into his thunderous form. Dinesh Karthik’s good run with bat will also be a positive for the Intex-owned side, while Suresh Raina will be looking to build on the starts provided.
The Lions bowling department also came out very strong against the Kings with seamer DJ Bravo leading the attack claiming four crucial wickets with his stunning pace variations, bamboozling the likes of Maxwell and Miller with ease. Praveen Kumar was fantastic early on, moving the ball both ways and was miserly in the death overs, delivering yorkers with perfection. With Sangwan going for a few runs, Gujarat might just be keen to bring in Dhawal Kulkarni in his place, to add a touch of experience. With no injuries being reported, the Lions will be raring to go against a solid Supergiants line-up.
Rising Pune Supergiants Squad :
Possessing one of the best batting line-ups in the tournament with three international captains in the mix, the MS Dhoni led Giants have already created a strong statement going into tournament.
After the Pune bowlers decimerated the Mumbai top order with pace, bounce and movement off the pitch, medium slow bowler Rajat Bhatia and spinner Murugan Ashwin chipped in with their variations claiming 3 wickets between them to ensure that no MI batsman was allowed to free their arms, restricting MI to just 121 in their allotted 20 overs.
The Pune openers made light work of the chase, Rahane in particular anchoring the chase with a well made 66 of just 42 balls while Kevin Pietersen applied the finishing touches with two sixes at the end. With Dhoni not a great fan of shuffling squad, the Supergiants with the same squad will be hoping to play the same brand of cricket when they take to field against the Gujarat Lions.
Broadcast Details for watching the match :
| Country/Region | Broadcaster |
| India | Sony Max, Sony Six, Sony ESPN |
| Africa | SuperSport |
| Pakistan | Geo Super |
| Bangladesh | Maasranga |
| Caribbean | Sportsmax |
| Bhutan | Set Max, Sony Six |
| Canada | Sportsnet |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport |
| Malaysia | Astro |
| Sri Lanka | Carlton Sports Network |
| Hong Kong | PCCW |
| Middle East and North Africa | OSN |
| United States | ESPN |
| Singapore | StarHub, Singtel |
| Australia | CricketGateway.com |
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports |
| Nepal | Sony Six, Sony Max |
| Brunei | Astro |
Teams (Predicted XI) :
Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Suresh Raina (Captain), Dinesh Karthik, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Sarabjit Ladda.
Ajinkya Rahane, Faf Du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain & wk), Mitchell Marsh, Rajat Bhatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Rudra Pratap Singh.
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