IPL 2017-Can Gujarat Lions prevent a choke this time around

The Indian Premier League is about to start and all teams are busy with trying out combinations. So here is a franchise which is barely an year old but managed to grab the headlines with their prolific show by becoming the best team in the league statistically. But somehow, inexperience or lack of ability to deliver that knockout punch took over them and they couldn’t convert their good form into a league win. So it’s up to them now to continue their consistent form and try not to emulate the choke they underwent the last time around.

Here’s a detailed roster for the Gujarat Lions team that will enter this IPL.

BATTING

The batting department is not much of a concern with the likes of Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch and Dwayne Smith. All these on their day easily demolish any opposition on their day. McCullum who has been a sensation since the inauguration of the IPL, will provide crucial momentum in the beginning of the innings however since he has had a dry IPL last time around so Aaron Finch may be preferred over him. Also number 3 will most probably be handled by Suresh Raina, who can be termed as the Kohli of IPL statistically with 28 fifties and a century and over 4000 runs at an average of 34.00 and strike rate of 134. This can provide necessary stability to batting lineup. The middle order is handled by the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and Dinesh Kartik. Ravindra Jadeja can also chip in with few runs as he has a formidable average of 23. Some uncapped players like Akashdeep Nath and Paras Dogra might also be tried.

BOWLING

The bowlers to watch out will surely be  James Faulkner, Andrew Tye and Ravindra Jadeja. However the bowling will be introduced by Dhawal Kulkarni. he will be an interesting prospect initially for Gujarat Lions. With 73 wickets at a strike rate of 17.84 and an economy of 7.86 he will surely be an important player for them. Also the likes of Jadeja and Faulkner can kill runs in the middle overs which is a critical aspect of a t20 game. Andrew Tye is another bowler who is yet to be tested in the IPL format. However, his all round exploits in the Australian leagues especially Ryobi cup where he picked up 13 wickets and also plundered 7 sixes.

FIELDING

The Gujarat Lions Wicket keeping will be handled by Dinesh Karthik who is known to have pulled off some spectacular catches in past. He has taken over 80 catches and affected 26 stumpings in his IPL career. Also with likes of Jadeja and Bravo in the team the fielding looks in safe hands.

CAPTAINCY

Last time around Suresh Raina was handed the reins of captaincy. He fared pretty well taking his team into top 4 but lacked composure under pressure situations as his team despite being in an advantageous position in the last 4 stage squandered their advantage. This time captaincy might be given to someone else.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

The coach of the team will be Brad Hodge who himself has a lot of T20 and IPL experience. His inputs will be valuable to the team. Also Mohammad Kaif has been appointed as assistant coach.