Old mates turned new rivals face off in clash of debutants

Loyalties have bifurcated. The trade secrets of the most successful formula, that for long was hidden among a chosen few, is no longer a patent of one side as the two new teams of the Indian Premier League (IPL) - Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants lock horns on Thursday (April 14). MS Dhoni, the man who ran the show for so long, will look to outwit his Man Friday - Suresh Raina - in a battle of supremacy that starts way before the two sides take field.
Gujarat Lions, who are set to play their first home match of the 2016 edition at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, started their maiden IPL campaign with a comprehensive five-wicket win. Even as their two most destructive batsmen - Raina and Brendon McCullum - failed to make a big impact, the form of Aaron Finch, who has recovered well from his injury, has served as a good news. However, the biggest plus for them turned out to be the way the bowlers managed to curtail a rampaging Kings XI Punjab side in the death overs.
Rising Pune Supergiants may not boast of a strong line-up of all-rounders like their rivals, but they have a power-packed top order to intimidate any T20 outfit. Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis and Kevin Pietersen proved enough to annihilate Mumbai Indians in the opening encounter. With Steve Smith and Dhoni to follow, there will be little worry for the visitors as far as the top order is concerned.
What, however, remains a cause of worry for them is the fact that the lower middle order, barring Mitchell Marsh, doesn't paint a menacing picture. With international cricket's two most sort-after death bowlers - James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo - and the wily Praveen Kumar to deal with, they will need their star-studded top order to be busy longer at the crease.
But beyond just the on-field battle, sans the Trojan Horse striding through the guarded gates, expect some secret leaks in the boardroom discussions.
When: April 14, 2016, Match 6, 8:00 PM IST
Where: Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot
What to expect: Even as the temperature touches as high as 45 degrees Celsius during the day time, expect it to fall to 28-32 degree Celsius by the time the match gets underway. Humidity will be around 29-55% during the course of the match.
Stats:Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni have played 129 matches together in IPL - the most by any duo. This match will see them go against each other first time in T20 cricket.
Dhoni needs 12 more runs to become the seventh batsman to reach 3000 runs in IPL.
Raina needs 53 more runs to become the first Indian and fifth overall to reach 6000 runs in T20 cricket.
Rajkot will become the 32nd venue to host an IPL match. It will be the 21st Indian venue. JSCA stadium, Ranchi was the last Indian venue.
Quotes:Suresh Raina, Gujarat Lions captain: They (Rising Pune Supergiants) will be also playing their first game against us, so it (the pressure) is the same for both the teams. They have a matured team, I have played with them in IPL and country. As far as IPL goes, certain things are not in your control and you have to do just what you can do as a player. We will play positively against them. This is our first game in Gujarat, home support will be there. Pressure will be there on the opposition, but MS (Dhoni) is the type of captain who has earned respect everywhere. We too have some players who are respected everywhere, so it is going to be quite an interesting game.
Heath Streak, Gujarat Lions bowling coach: He (Ravindra Jadeja) is an important player for India and for us (Gujarat Lions) in the IPL. He can bat, bowl and give you good runouts. He has good brains to read the game. He bats as per situation at No.7. He is local boy and he has a lot of information about the wicket and local conditions. He is a key member and one of the first members to take feedback from.
Teams:Gujarat Lions: Suresh Raina, Brendon McCullum, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Dwayne Bravo, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik, Andrew Tye, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe, Praveen Kumar, Pradeep Sangwan, Shadab Jakati, Paras Dogra, Ishan Kishan, Eklavya Dwivedi, Shival Kaushik, Sarbjit Ladda, Umang Sharma, Akshdeep Nath, Jaydev Shah, Amit Mishra
Rising Pune Supergiants: MS Dhoni (c&wk), Baba Aparajith, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Jaskaran Singh, Irfan Pathan, Kevin Pietersen, Ishant Sharma, Steven Smith, Adam Zampa, Ankit Sharma, Murugan Ashwin, Ankush Bains, Scott Boland, Ashok Dinda, Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Marsh, Ishwar Pandey, Thisara Perera, Ajinkya Rahane, RP Singh