The IPL auctions 2016 took place recently on the 6th of February. As expected, it was a day full of frantic activity, with teams jostling for their preferred players in the auctions. There were two new teams in the auctions this time, which made up for the novelty factor.
One of them is the Gujarat Lions, which is a team based from Rajkot in Gujarat. Let us have a look at this new side, what players it lapped up during the auctions and everything else related to this team.
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The Gujarat Lions Squad
The Gujarat Lions is a recently formed Rajkot-based franchise. It will play in the Indian Premier League for two seasons only, starting from 2016. The team will serve as a replacement for one of the two suspended IPL sides, Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals.
Gujarat Lions is owned by Keshav Bansal, who is the owner and director of Intex Technologies. He has commented that the company intends to use IPL and cricket as a platform to promote its brand.
During the 2016 players draft, this team picked up Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, along with foreign players of the caliber of Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner. It later appointed Suresh Raina as its captain and Brad Hodge as the coach of the side.
In the IPL auctions held on 6th Feb, this team succeeded in getting a good mix of Indian and foreign players on its side and is already seen as a serious contender for the title, even before the tournament has begun.
Also Read: IPL 2016 Teams and full players list
Indian contingent
Some of the prominent Indian players picked in the auctions include Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni and Amit Mishra. T
Eklavya Dwivedi (Wicket Keeper), Ishan Kishan (Wicket Keeper), Jaydev Shah (All-Rounder) Shadab Jakati (All-Rounder), Pravin Tambe (Bowler), Pradeep Sangwan (All-Rounder), Shivil Kaushik (Bowler), Akshdeep Nath (All-Rounder ), Sarabjit Ladda (Bowler), Umang Sharma (Batsman), Paras Dogra (Batsman).
The foreign names which this team picked up in the auctions include Dale Steyn, Dwayne Smith, Aaron Finch and Andrew Tye.
The Gujarat Lions Logo
The Gujarat Lions have a roaring Lion as the Logo of the side.
"Gujarat as a state has a rich cricketing history with a passion and commitment to the game that is unmatched. We have named our team Gujarat Lions to try and capture the spirit of Gujarat which has a rich cricketing history. The name brings instant connect with fans not just across the state but across the world," said Keshav Bansal.
The company has said that it decided on the name of the team through a crowd-sourcing exercise in which it received more than 5,000 responses from people on Facebook.
Gujarat being a state which has been at the forefront of Lion conservation in India, it is an apt name and logo for the side.
The Gujarat Lions Jersey
On February 20, 2016, the Gujarat Lions announced their jersey for the 2016 edition of the IPL. According to the Lions team management, ‘the orange represents boldness and blue stands for depth’.
What impact may this team make IPL 2016?
The Gujarat Lions side seems to have a good balance of top class Indian and foreign players. The team’s biggest strength is the presence of impact players like Suresh Raina, Brendon McCullum and James Faulkner, which are some of the biggest names internationally, and especially dangerous in the T 20 format.
It also has a mystery spinner in the mould of ‘a Paul Adams’, in the form of the young Indian talent Shivil Kaushik. He made a huge impact in the Karnataka Premier League with his unorthodox bowling action and most batsmen struggled to pick him. Expect him to create some troubles for batsmen on turning tracks, during this IPL season.
All in all, Gujarat Lions looks like a promising side, and it won’t be a surprise if they do very well during this IPL season. The Gujarati cricket fans surely would hope to see their home side make some big noises during the tournament this year.
We wish this new team all the very best for this upcoming IPL season!
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