Published: Apr 14, 2016, 06:11 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 15, 2016, 10:27 PM (IST)
The contest between Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) and Gujarat Lions (GL) is an exciting contest for more than one reason. Many former teammates will be pitted against each other, but nothing is as interesting one as seeing MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina competing against each other for the very first time in nine years. Dhoni and Raina were part of the banned franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for eight years. Raina has a record of not missing a single IPL match till date and Dhoni led CSK to two IPL titles and one Champions League T20 win as well. Raina is also the leading scorer in IPL history as well. Apart from their individual capacities as players, these two men have been tested as leaders in the past too. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Gujarat Lions vs Rising Pune Supergiants, IPL 2016, Match 6 at Rajkot
Raina and Dhoni have been the pillars of CSK over the years. Raina, however, has been out of form for India, but he is no doubt a big player, especially in the T20 format. Dhoni is known to be on of the best finishers in the game has on more than one occasion dug his team — be it India or CSK out of trouble. And once Raina gets going at the top, it is hard to stop him. He is one of those batsmen who was given the license to bat up the order by Dhoni and play his shots, which Raina executed to perfection over the years. READ: Rising Pune Supergiants vs Gujarat Lions 2016, Match 6 at Rajkot: Preview
It is not just Dhoni and Raina who will face each other. It will be Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo and Brendon McCullum will come up against Dhoni , Ravichandran Ashwin and Faf du Plessis. Playing under Dhoni’s leadership for many years, Raina will surely be well aware of his tactics and maybe take a leaf or two out his book and use it against him.
This will also be the first time the two new teams will be pitted against each other. Both teams will want to go 1-0 up in this battle. But without a shadow of a doubt the MS Dhoni versus Suresh Raina battle will take centre stage.
The good thing is, both teams registered wins in their first match. While RPS beat defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in the opening match, Gujarat Lions beat Kings XI Punjab in the first match. They will be in a good frame of mind going into this match. But the fans will surely be divided as to who they want to support.
On one side there is Dhoni, who has won many accolades in the IPL and for India. Then there is of course Raina, who is known to be one of the best T20 players around the world. Both teams are well-equipped in all departments and Dhoni versus Raina Part 1 could turn out to be a thriller — something that this edition of IPL has lacked so far.
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
