Follow UsOver the years, there has been a sense of casualness about the new franchises. The fan base has usually been thin for obvious reasons and the squad mix is over-dependent on overseas recruits. More than a strategy, the driving factor has been the hope of things somehow falling into place. It does not usually work out that way.
Yet somehow, the aura feels different this time. With the keenness of the administrators to expand the tournament for good, the investment made by the owners to jump on the IPL bandwagon, and franchises being from the two most politically important places for people running the country, it seems serious business. Add to it the freedom given to players to negotiate their preferences. This resulted in Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans going into the auction with a better base than a few of the older franchises.
For Hardik Pandya, the choice was obvious. He gets to lead what is technically his home franchise. KL Rahul laid the speculations for his exit from Punjab to rest by expressing his desire to get involved in building a side from scratch. “Whatever little time that I have gotten with Lucknow Super Giants has been a very new experience for me because I have never sat in meetings where we are discussing each and every player about how we want to set up the franchise and what we need, what our core needs to be,” opened up Rahul on Red Bull cricket room on Clubhouse. “There's so much that has happened and all that was very new to me."
LSG Squad Depth
Picking players outside the auction is controllable. But being able to buy even 70% of the players a side had an eye for in the auction is a resounding success. Post the auction for this season was over, the consensus was LSG have put together a first XI capable to pip even the existing sides. For Gujarat, there were question marks on batting potential to complement the best T20 spinner in the world, Rashid Khan.
GT Squad Depth
Jason Roy added to Gujarat’s woes by pulling out a few weeks back citing bubble fatigue. Now, the onus of exhibiting overseas pedigree lie with Matthew Wade – unproven as a franchise player outside Australia - and with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, expected to be the next big thing but not quite there yet.
The Indian options are a newbie Abhinav Manohar and Vijay Shankar whose stocks have been down since the big break in 2019. This leaves a lot to do for Shubman Gill and Hardik. And of ‘course on Rashid Khan and co to bail the team out from par totals.
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However, as seen in the first few games, the squad build-up does not really matter at least, to begin with. Delhi played only two overseas players owing to availability issues. The same might end up being the case with LSG. Marcus Stoinis is unavailable for four games. Jason Holder for two. Even Quinton de Kock might be unavailable for the encounter against GT. It not only evens out the contest but even put the ball in Gujarat’s court.
In the two batting-lite teams, the contest will end up being between the two bowling units. And it is almost fascinating how similar the build-up of the two units looks like. For experience in Rashid, Mohammed Shami and Lockie Ferguson for Gujarat, there is potential in Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, and Dushmanta Chameera for Lucknow. GT’s R Sai Kishore maps with LSG’s Krunal Pandya in style if not in stature yet. And so do Krishnappa Gowtham and Rahul Tewatia in their own bits and pieces way.
But the focus, for the time being, will be on the two men leading the new franchises and the IPL into a new future. For two players who have shared so much together – not just exchanging each other’s jerseys after a game – it is symbolic that Rahul and Hardik get to mark this new phase in their cricketing journey together. Even if that means piping each other on tactics and skills to go one up and claim the bragging rights. Afterall, it is serious business.
LSG Probable XI: KL Rahul (c and wk), Evin Lewis, Manan Vohra, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Karan Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Ankit Rajpoot/Krishnappa Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
GT Probable XI : Shubman Gill, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Matthew Wade, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya (c), Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson