IPL 2017 Player Battles: Gujarat Lions vs Rising Pune Supergiant, Top 4 player encounters to look for

Both Pune and Gujarat have lost their previous two games

The Gujarat Lions will play hosts to Rising Pune Supergiant in the 13^th match of the season at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot. Both teams were the new entries in the previous season and which saw them have contrasting fortunes. While GL were the table toppers after the league stage, RPS were languishing at the penultimate position on the points table.

GL though haven’t been able to replicate their performances from last year and have lost both their matches so far. The bowling department seems pretty weak as they have managed to pick up just one wicket in these two games.

On the other hand, RPS started off beautifully by winning their first game against Mumbai Indians but lost the radar and suffered two back to back losses.

Both teams currently lie at the bottom of the points table and would be desperate for resurrection. Here are the top player encounters to watch out for in the clash:

#1 Ravindra Jadeja vs Steve Smith

 Jadeja will add much-needed firepower to the Lions’ bowling line-up

The RPS skipper would be back in the side having missed out in the last game due to a stomach upset while Jadeja is expected to feature in the XI for the first time this year after returning from an injury.

In the recently concluded Test series between India and Australia, there was one scene that repeated itself numerous times. It was Jadeja bowling at the stumps and Smith defending. But that would certainly not be the case when these two face off in the IPL.

The Indian left-arm spinner had dismissed Smith three times in the series and it would be a keen battle to witness these two now in the shortest format of the game.