IPL 2016: Suresh Raina feels MS Dhoni will get plenty of support in Rajkot
Gujarat Lions skipper Suresh Raina feels that the Rising Pune Supergiants skipper MS Dhoni will get plenty of support at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium tonight, where the two teams will square off against each other in an IPL 2016 game. The two new teams in the tournament will face each other in a high-voltage clash tonight.
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"Dhoni is a cricketer, who gets support from every corner of the country but we too have some cricketers, who are popular in India and in Gujarat," Raina said. These two players will square against each other for the first time in IPL history as both of them used to play for the same franchise in the previous editions of the IPL. Raina and Dhoni both played for the Chennai Super Kings and in this year’s auction only they were picked up by their respective franchises.
When asked about the local boy Ravindra Jadeja, Raina said that the all-rounder had given the team some useful tips regarding the ground and pitch condition as he is quite familiar with the local conditions. Jadeja plays for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy and it is obvious that he is quite familiar to the ground in Rajkot.
Confident of playing positive cricket
Raina also said that his side was confident of playing positive cricket against the Supergiants. Both the teams have won their opening matches of the tournament and this will be a cracker of a battle for sure.
The Supergiants started the tournament with a huge victory over the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the opening match of the tournament. Whereas, on the other hand, the Gujarat Lions also started the tournament with a victory against the Kings XI Punjab courtesy of some good performances by Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, and Aaron Finch.
Both teams have plenty of firepower in their arsenal and they will surely look to take the early initiative in the game. Gujarat having their local boy Jadeja in their side, hold a slight advantage over their counterparts as Pune has plenty of right-handers in their batting line up against whom Jadeja can be deadly dangerous.
The Indian skipper MS Dhoni is definitely a crowd-puller and people all over the India adore his personality. He commands the support of the crowd on whichever ground he plays. His Indian teammate Raina too feels the same as he knows his skipper’s aura is something very formidable to reckon with.