It is match No. 9 of ninth season of Indian Premier League (IPL) and a confident Gujarat Lions (GL) take on Mumbai Indians (MI) at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. GL, who are taking part in IPL for the first time this year, have so far put up stupendous performance winning both their initial fixtures and are ready to take on the reigning champions of the Indian Twenty20 (T20) league with a boosted morale. Both the teams are quite compact with talented and world-class players as well as domestic rookies. The contest is expected to be a high-scoring one looking at the recent games at Wankhede Here’s presenting the likely XI for the Gujarat Lions. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Lions, Match 9, IPL 2016
Top-order: The best thing to notice about Gujarat Lions is the consistent performance of their top-order. Opener Aaron Finch has been in his ‘stand and deliver’ mode, notching up consecutive half-centuries, while Brendon McCullum failed in the first match but quickly got his usual color back with a 31-ball 49 in the second match to show that he means business. At No. 3, it is Suresh Raina, the skipper, who is expected to comes out to bat. Though the prolific batsman is going through a rough patch currently, one must not forget the exploits of Raina for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the franchise he played for for the past nine seasons without missing a single match, which by the way is a record in itself. If Raina fires, there is no stopping the dangerous trio towards a huge total at the scoring ground like Wankhede.
Middle-order: The middle-order also comprises of hard-hitters who can turn things around any time. Dwayne ‘Champion’ Bravo, who comes at No. 4, is considered currently as one of the best all-rounders in limited-overs format and for right reasons. While his 4-wicket haul in the first match helped his team register an easy victory, in the second match, his cameo of 10-ball 22 got GL home with 2 overs still remaining. Another important middle-order batsman for the team is Dinesh Karthik who proved his mettle with a responsible knock in the first match that was elemental behind the team’s win. Following them, come out the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner and to make the batting even more strong, the skipper might consider sending India’s under-19 captain Ishan Kishan following Karthik, while another contender for the spot can be Paras Dogra.
Bowlers: While in the first match, it was a Dwayne Bravo show all the way, Faulkner and Praveen Kumar pulled off a decent job with the ball and are expected to do better. The skipper can also think of Dhawal Kulkarni in place of Praveen Kumar looking at his experience of playing in Mumbai. As far as spinning department is concerned, Raina has the experienced Pravin Tambe, who in the second match bagged a couple of wickets with an economy of 8.25. Jadeja has also been highly successful and is expected to continue that. With Shadab Jakati leaking runs in his last match, Raina might give raw Shivil Kaushik a chance while himself bowl a few overs. With so many options available, the bowling attack also looks strong.
(Paulami Chakraborty, a singer, dancer, artist, and photographer, loves the madness of cricket and writes about the game. She can be followed on Twitter at @Polotwitts)
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