Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Pune will face Suresh Raina's Gujarat in a mouth-watering clash on Friday.
The captain and his prodigy are back at it again with the Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG) taking on league leaders Gujarat Lions (GL) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni did get his team’s campaign back on track with an overwhelming victory against the Sunrisers (Hyderabad), but the absence of Faf du Plessis due to a finger injury will be his biggest cause of concern. Usman Khawaja, who has been called in as a replacement for the South African will most probably be seen in action from the next match, which would open doors for Albie Morkel to get another chance in the side. Australian captain Steve Smith and Indian left-hander Saurabh Tiwary are serious contenders for the vacant opening slot while Morkel would add that extra bit to the batting and bowling armoury of the brand new franchise.
Gujarat in all probabilities will field the same line-up as they did against the Delhi Daredevils (DD) with Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner being the four foreigners. They will go all guns blazing as a win here will open up a four-point lead for them at the top of the table, which would help them experiment with their line-up in the upcoming games.
KEY BATTLES
Dinda and Marsh v/s Smith and McCullum
Ashok Dinda, the comeback man, was the architect of Sunrisers’ downfall in the last game and his new ball partner Mitchell Marsh did make the ball talk to trouble a fair extent. Here they will face an uphill task of containing two equally aggressive openers who play ‘no holds barred’ cricket.
Smith is making the most of Aaron Finch’s injury while McCullum has steadily come into his own in the last two games. So these two wickets are going to very vital in the context of the game. Dinda has a spring in his steps and if he gets the ball moving right from the word ‘go’, which he should rather than solely concentrating on pace, then it would be tough for the Kiwi-West Indian pair.
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Ashwins v/s Gujarat middle order
The senior Ashwin has finally gained his captain’s trust as he completed his full quota in the last game and did a neat job by picking up a wicket and going under four runs in his four overs.
In an earlier game, Dhoni had bowled both the Ashwins (Ravichandran and Murugan) in tandem and things can a similar turn when likes of Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner take the crease.
These hard-hitters will fancy clearing the short boundaries of MCA Stadium and it will be a cat and mouse battle, as to who falls into the trap at first.
It all boils down to captaincy
Raina has superbly led his troops till now and even at the time of adversity, like the last game when Chris Morris was going hammer and tongs, he managed to keep his cool. Now it is to be seen whether he can beat Dhoni by staying calmer. The Indian skipper known for conjuring extraordinary comebacks with Chennai Super Kings can well be on his way to do an encore. The home support will definitely help the cause.
Chances of victory
RPSG - 60% GL - 40%
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