IPL 2017: Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) Predicted XI

Spinner:

Adam Zampa

Zampa is likely to get the nod ahead of Imran Tahir at the start of the season

Imran Tahir may be the No.1 ranked ODI and T20I bowler but he went unsold in the IPL Auction 2017. In fact, he was only brought in by Rising Pune Supergiant as a last-minute replacement for Mitchell Marsh who was ruled out of the tournament with an injury.

So he is by no means the automatic choice for the spinner slot. Especially considering the fact that Adam Zampa was one of the few success stories from Pune's IPL 2016 campaign. That Pune are currently led by another Australian, Steve Smith and not MS Dhoni, also means that at least to begin with, they are likely to go with the tried and tested.

In this case, although Tahir is vastly experienced and Zampa is still a newbie on the international arena, they are likely to go with the Australian leg spinner. Not only because of familiarity but also because he is a better batsman than Tahir and at No.8, Pune would want someone who could chip in with a few handy runs as well, considering none of their bowlers are especially great with the bat.