IPL 2016 Auction Analysis: Gujarat Lions

Total Players: 24

Auction Spend: Rs. 16.65 crores

Gujarat Lions, haven’t put a foot wrong since inception. After the draft where they picked better players than Pune, they have now gone on to pick a very formidable and balanced side covering all bases.

In Dwayne Smith, Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik they have a formidable batting line-up. They procured youngsters like Ishan Kishan and Eklavya Dwivedi who’d like to make a name for themselves this IPL.

Their all-rounders in Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, and Ravindra Jadeja not only add to the batting firepower but also give them the edge in those middle overs. Faulkner and Bravo have been two of the best death bowlers in the IPL.

What has been the best part about Gujarat Lions’ auction strategy, though, is their choice of bowlers. Dale Steyn, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni all are quality fast bowlers, add to that Andrew Tye, who had a brilliant BBL, at the back of which he earned an Australia call-up for the recently concluded T20s vs India.

They have also got a couple really underrated yet, talented players such as Praveen Tambe, Pradeep Sangwan and Shadab Jakati to back their frontline players up.

It is suffice to say that in its first year itself, Gujarat Lions mean business. They have one of the most talented bunch of players and will be exciting to see how far they go ahead in this year’s IPL.

Gujarat Lions predicted XI:

Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Ishan Kishan, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dale Steyn.