Gujarat Lions and Kolkata Knight Riders take on each other to begin their IPL 10 campaign
A top-heavy Gujarat Lions would aim for a winning start against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday.
Gujarat boast of a robust batting line-up and were the only team last year to score 70 or more in the powerplay. Five of Gujarat batsmen — Raina, Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Smith — were among runs in the last IPL. They also have the likes of Jason Roy in their rank.
Having defeated KKR in both home and away games in the previous season, Gujarat Lions also enjoy a psychological advantage over them. On the bowling front, Gujarat have an effective new-ball pair in Dhawal Kulkarni and Praveen Kumar. But Gujarat will miss two of their key players — Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo, who is out injured early on. Jadeja, on the other hand, will sit out of the first few games after a long Test season.
Another factor which will be in the mind of the Lions going into IPL 2017 is how to win while batting first. Gujarat Lions had lost five out of six matches, including two Qualifiers while batting first last year.
KKR, on the other hand, are one of those teams which cricket fans always root for — be it for Sourav Ganguly or for its owner Shah Rukh Khan.
The Kolkata outfit boast of the seasoned opening pair of captain Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, who lay a solid foundation. In Darren Bravo, Manish Pandey and Chris Lynn, the KKR have batsmen known to intimidate the opponent. And in Yusuf Pathan and Suryakumar Yadav, they have attacking lower-middle-order.
But the real strength lies in their spin arsenal, consisting Shakib Al Hasan, Piyush Chawla, chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and mystery man Sunil Narine. With Umesh Yadav given much-needed rest for the first two games, the KKR pace attack will be spearheaded by Trent Boult in the company of Chris Woakes and Nathan Coulter-Nile. But they would definitely miss the services of all-rounder Andre Russell, serving oneyear ban for anti-doping violation.
Gujarat boast of a robust batting line-up and were the only team last year to score 70 or more in the powerplay. Five of Gujarat batsmen — Raina, Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Smith — were among runs in the last IPL. They also have the likes of Jason Roy in their rank.
Having defeated KKR in both home and away games in the previous season, Gujarat Lions also enjoy a psychological advantage over them. On the bowling front, Gujarat have an effective new-ball pair in Dhawal Kulkarni and Praveen Kumar. But Gujarat will miss two of their key players — Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo, who is out injured early on. Jadeja, on the other hand, will sit out of the first few games after a long Test season.
Another factor which will be in the mind of the Lions going into IPL 2017 is how to win while batting first. Gujarat Lions had lost five out of six matches, including two Qualifiers while batting first last year.
KKR, on the other hand, are one of those teams which cricket fans always root for — be it for Sourav Ganguly or for its owner Shah Rukh Khan.
The Kolkata outfit boast of the seasoned opening pair of captain Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, who lay a solid foundation. In Darren Bravo, Manish Pandey and Chris Lynn, the KKR have batsmen known to intimidate the opponent. And in Yusuf Pathan and Suryakumar Yadav, they have attacking lower-middle-order.
But the real strength lies in their spin arsenal, consisting Shakib Al Hasan, Piyush Chawla, chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and mystery man Sunil Narine. With Umesh Yadav given much-needed rest for the first two games, the KKR pace attack will be spearheaded by Trent Boult in the company of Chris Woakes and Nathan Coulter-Nile. But they would definitely miss the services of all-rounder Andre Russell, serving oneyear ban for anti-doping violation.
