VIVO IPL 2016 New Teams: All you need to know about Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants

The 9th edition of the Indian Premier League is all set to get underway and it has all the ingredients to be yet another blockbuster. Things will be very different this time around as we will not see two of the most successful franchises in the tournament's history - Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

However, the world's most popular T20 league will still feature 8 teams as two completely new franchises, namely Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions, have replaced the suspended ones. Some of the big players from CSK and RR will be seen in action for either of the new teams, prominent examples being MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane and Dwayne Bravo among others.

Here is everything that you should know about the Gujarat Lions and the Rising Pune Supergiants:

Gujarat Lions

Franchise Owner - Keshav Bansal of Intex Technologies

Captain - Suresh Raina

Head Coach - Brad Hodge

Strengths - The most impressive aspect of the Gujarat Lions team is the presence of some fine all-rounders like Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner and Ravindra Jadeja. The presence of big players such as skipper Suresh Raina, Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch and Dwayne Smith lends a lot of solidity to the batting line-up.

Weaknesses - The spin department lacks the presence of prominent names, although there are some experienced spinners in the team like Pravin Tambe and Shadab Jakati. The pace attack is led by an off-colour Dale Steyn and this may increase the workload for the likes of Bravo and Faulkner.

Predicted XI - Suresh Raina (c), Brendon McCullum, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Pravin Tambe, Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn, Dhawal Kulkarni.

Opening match - vs Kings XI Punjab at PCA Stadium Mohali, 11 April

Home Ground - Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot

Gujarat Lions Principal Sponsor - TVS Tyres

Rising Pune Supergiants

The Sanjiv Goenka-owned Pune team will be led by MS Dhoni

Franchise Owner - Sanjiv Goenka

Captain - Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Head Coach - Stephen Fleming

Strengths - The Rising Pune Supergiants boast of a power-packed batting line-up with the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis and MS Dhoni in their ranks. The presence of multiple fast-bowling all-rounders such as Irfan Pathan, Mitchell Marsh, Albie Morkel and Thisara Perera gives an extra edge to their pace attack.

Weaknesses - Although the spin attack is spearheaded by India's premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, there is a visible lack of experience with Adam Zampa and Murugan Ashwin being the two other known names.

Predicted XI - MS Dhoni (c) (wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Pietersen, Faf du Plessis, Albie Morkel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Marsh, Rajat Bhatia, Ishant Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Murugan Ashwin.

Opening match - vs Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium Mumbai, 9 April

Home Ground - MCA International Stadium, Pune

Rising Pune Supergiants Principal Sponsor - Cargill Foods India