RAJKOT, April 13: Struggling Gujarat Lions is set to receive a much-needed boost with the imminent return of ace all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja during their clash against Rising Pune Supergiant in the Indian Premier League here tomorrow.
Gujarat Lions, who finished an impressive third in their maiden IPL appearance last year, did not have the best of starts in the ongoing edition of the tournament.
The Suresh Raina-led side suffered consecutive defeats against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders and title holder Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening two matches.
And come tomorrow, Gujarat Lions would be desperate to turn their fortunes around in front of home fans at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here.
Gujarat Lions got a much-needed boost in the form of Jadeja, who is likely to play his first IPL match tomorrow.
Jadeja missed Gujarat Lions first two games after he was advised rest for two weeks by the BCCI medical team soon after the India�s four match Test series against Australia.
Jadeja has had a terrific home season with both ball and bat for India and his return will definitely boost Gujarat Lions morale.
Another key member, West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who is recovering from injury, however is doubtful even though he took part in the team�s practice session yesterday.
Gujarat Lions� strong point is the team�s batting department.
With the likes of Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Jason Roy, Raina and Dinesh Karthik up its rank, Gujarat Lions heavily depends on its batting unit.
But the likes of McCullum and Finch have failed to live upto their reputations so far, garnering just 40 and 18 runs respectively in the first two games. Opener Jason Roy started the innings well on both occasion against KKR and SRH but failed to convert the good starts into big knocks.
Only skipper Raina, who struck unbeaten 68 against KKR at home and Karthik (47,30) have shouldered the responsibility in the middle-order. � PTI
Teams:
Gujarat Lions: Suresh Raina (capt), Akshadeep Nath, Shubham Agarwal, Basil Thampi, Dwayne Bravo, Chirag Suri, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Manpreet Gony, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Dhaval Kulkarni, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Shivil Kaushik, Brandon McCullum, Munaf Patel, Pratham Singh, Jason Roy, Pradeep Sangwan, Jaydev Shah, Shelly Shaurya, Nathusingh, Dwayne Smith, Tejas Baroka, Andre Tye.
Rising Pune Supergiant: Steve Smith (capt), Faf du Plessis, Adam Zampa, Usman Khawja, M S Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Ankus Bains, Rajat Bhatia, Ankit Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Jaskarn Singh, Baba Aparajith, Deepak Chahar, Mayank Agarwal, Dnaiel Christian, Luckie Farguson, Ben Stokes and Manoj Tiwary.
Match starts at 8 pm
