It’s a battle to sustain in this league for Gujarat Lions as they are winless so far and also for Rising Pune Supergiants as they could manage only one win in their first 3 outings. Both teams are eager to register a win and add 2 points to their tally in tonight’s match at Rajkot. It’s the home ground for Gujarat Lions and they would be desperate to find winnings ways here. On the other hand, RPS are relieved with the return of Steve Smith. He is the backbone of the team and he is in top form this season. There is a lot of talk about MS Dhoni’s form and his ability in T20 format. It’s time that he delivers for RPS and helps them strengthen the middle order along with Ben Stokes. Imran Tahir is on a dream run with the ball but he is lacking support from other bowlers. The Star Indian Player and Worlds No1 AllRounder Ravindra Jadeja is all set to join Gujarat Lions and this will be a huge relief for the GL bowling unit. GL bowling is regarded as one of the worst bowling lineups across all IPL’s. Jadeja with his consistent and tight line and length will definitely help GL’s cause. The batting lineup of Gujarat is filled with star batsman but they are lacking the perfect combination to deliver the striking punch. Emphasis would be on Raina and McCullum to score big this match.

RPS start favorites as they have a reliable batsman in Steve Smith and a dominant bowler in Imran Tahir. Gujarat, however, has no such players to their credit who they can depend on. Hope Jaddu’s magic will bring them some luck today.

 

Check here: RCB vs GL Match Prediction

Gujarat Lions journey so far-

Played – 2

Won- 0

Lost -2

Gujarat Lions team is currently in the last position in the points table. The team which managed to play Qualifiers in the last year’s IPL tournament couldn’t continue that momentum this year. As the key players in the team like Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja couldn’t play the first two games, the team’s bowling unit looked out of place. The team management emphasized on strengthening the batting heavily and it backfired too.

Batting –

The batting unit of Gujarat Lions with Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik and Jason Roy still didn’t get on to the safe rails. The home team which is hosting Rising Pune Supergiant today will bring their most experienced and the man in-form Ravindra Jadeja into action. If he is included in playing XI, then he will surely look to get back to rhythm from the word go which might prove to be the killer punch for Gujarat Lions.

He is one of the hard-hitting batsmen in the lower order and is expected to take his team up in the points table. It is said that Dwayne Bravo is practicing hard in the net sessions. He will still require few more days to get match fit. All-rounder James Faulkner might replace Jason Roy in today’s playing XI. For sure, Faulkner is an asset to the team who can bat and bowl.

Bowling-

It lesser we talk the better it is about GL’s bowling. They have tottally underperformed with the likes of shivil Kaushik bowling way off radar. They completely lacked discipline in both their matches. Jadeja is the perfect guy to put an end to their bowling miseries. Faulkner is also much needed here to help the new ball bowling.

Predicted XI: Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina (C), Jason Roy, Dinesh Karthik, James Faulkner, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Tejas Baroka, Manpreet Gony, Dhawal Kulkarni.

Rising Pune Supergiant journey so far-

Played – 3

Won- 1

Lost -2

Batting– RPS have been good with the bat in thier first 2 matches with Smith and rahane in the form of their lives. Smith’s absence and Rahane’s early dismissal in the game against DD led to a batting collapse. With the return of Smith you could expect their batting to flourish again. Ben Stokes and Dhoni are yet to score big. If these 2 get going expect this side to plunder any bowling unit.

Bowling– Imran Tahir is the lone bowling star shining for Rising Pune. He has been in top form and picked up wickets every time the ball was thrown at him. All-rounders like Stokes and  Christian have to stand up for RPS and help the death bowling.

Predicted XI: Mayank Agarwal, Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith (C), Manoj Tiwary, Ben Stokes, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Daniel Christian, Ashok Dinda, Imran Tahir

 

AllIndiaRoundup Predicts:

Well, every cricket loving Indian is a cricket expert and every expert has his own predictions for IPL. Right from cricket pundits sitting in com boxes to the waiters at a local Mumbai cafe, everyone is an expert in India. We @AIR thought why not try out our luck by predicting these matches. Of course, we would appreciate your support in making these calls. You can vote and tell us who is that you think will win today’s match.

GL vs RPS Match Predictions-

5 of the 6 IPL matches played at the SCA Stadium in Rajkot have been won by the team chasing; the average target successfully chased down is 163.

Score prediction-

First batting:

RPS –160-170

GL – 165-175

OUR WINNER – Rising Pune SuperGaints

Check here: RCB vs GL Match Prediction

WHY?

• Steve Smith is back
• Ben Stokes All round performance
• Imran Tahir and Rahane in prime form
• No spice in GL bowling lineup
• GL over dependant on Jadeja and Raina

It is hard to keep Jadeja and Faulkner silent, but can you stop Steve Smith when he is on his merry run? Not likely with the underperforming GL bowling line up.

Our Star performers Today-

Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Imran Tahir, Rahane

Raina, Jadeja, Karthik

Reality Corner: 

Gujarat Lions have won the toss and have opted to field

Gujarat Lions (Playing XI): Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Suresh Raina(c), Dwayne Smith, Ishan Kishan(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Andrew Tye, Shadab Bashir Jakati, Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Basil Thampi