Gujarat Lions vs Rising Pune Supergiants
Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining – 81
Moises Henriques out – Aaron Finch in (flat deck) /Ravindra Jadeja in (turner)
(Uncapped) Kuldeep Yadav out – Rajat Bhatia in
Batting captain – Ajinkya Rahane
Bowling captain – Dwayne Bravo
Fantasy factors
Unknown territory: Rajkot has a reputation of being one of the flattest decks in the world, but of late Ranji matches here have often seen the wrath of Saurashtra’s homeboy, Ravindra Jadeja. It’s, therefore, anyone’s guess as to what will be dished out today. I would recommend waiting till you get a clear idea of what it is going to be before roping your players in.
KP dilemma: Kevin Pietersen came in at No.3 against Mumbai Indians, but I am not sure how much I should look into it. What makes me doubt that move more is that the match situation didn’t need him at all.
It could have well been to give the former England international some game-time in the middle, with him coming into the tournament having not played many matches. While he did look in as good a touch as he has ever been, as discussed in the last Pune Supergiants article, I am not a great fan of KP playing at No.4.
Aaron Finch vs Brendon McCullum: With the Lions playing their next match in Mumbai, the decision between Aaron Finch and Brendon MccCullum would prove to be a very difficult one if this one turns out to be a flat deck as well. There is not much choice here. I would go with Finch, as he has shown what kind of form he is in as against McCullum whose status is not quite known yet.
Turner scenario: If it is a wicket that's going to assist spin, the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin would obviously pitch in as well. The number of right-handers in the Pune side makes me prefer Jadeja.
Note: You will not need any of the overseas batsmen in this case, which actually simplifies a lot of things for us.
Gujarat Lions favourites to win: Things are coming together really well for the Suresh Raina-led team, with the captain himself and Dinesh Karthik showing some really good touch with the bat in their first encounter. The middle order appeared to be their primary concern after the auction, but with that issue more or less sorted out, they should do alright.
With Raina in my team, I must admit I was quite relieved to see the way he played in the opener. Karthik would have been an excellent differential at No.3, but not so much down the order.
The decision to transfer out Moises Henriques might be bizarre, but I didn’t like what I saw of him in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Hanging on to him would mean I have to let go of other clear-cut scoring opportunities, which I don’t want to do. I could wait till he puts in a performance of note to get him back in.
