Hodge named coach of Gujarat Lions

Former
Australia batsman Brad
Hodge was today named coach of the newly-unveiled IPL team Gujarat Lions, which will make its debut under Suresh Raina's captaincy this season.
With Suresh Raina as captain, the Rajkot-based franchise and the Pune Super Giants will replace the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in the league.
The Gujarat team owner Keshav Bansal announced former renowned T20 freelancer Hodge as the chief coach of the team at a press conference here.
After playing for eight years in CSK, Raina said he is

wondering how the scene would be when his team faces Pune, which is being led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni -- the man who Marshalled CSK so far.

"We (him and Dhoni) have played together enough including a few finals and I know how to stop him. Imagine Dhoni getting out to Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) and (Dwayne) Bravo dancing," a smiling Raina said as he was officially unveiled as captain of the Rajkot-based IPL team Gujarat Lions.
Raina said having James Faulkner in the squad will add to
the balance of the side.
"Myself, Jadeja, McCullum and Dwayne Bravo have already played together for the CSK. With Faulkner joining us, the team will have great balance. I hope we will get good players from the auction too.
"There is a lot of talented Indian as well as overseas

cricketers in the auction pool," said the left-hander, who has played a record 214 T20 matches which includes international, IPL and domestic appearances.
While CSK will not be a part for the next two years, Raina feels the former BCCI president N Srinivasan's franchise made him a "better cricketer".
(REOPENS DEL 14)
South African Quinton de Kock, who hit season's first century by making 108 off just 51 balls, could not continue his batting form while other opener Shreyas Iyer is going through prolonged lean patch.
Young Karun Nair, Sanju Samson and South African JP Duminy have delivered when the team needed them while Sam Billings smashed a 34-ball 54 in his first match for Daredevils this season.

Returning to the playing eleven, big-hitting West Indian Craig Brathwaite made a quickfire 34 off 11 balls in Daredevils last match against Kolkata Knight Riders, while lanky all-rounder Chris Morris any day is a threat for the opposition bowlers, which he proved in his 32-ball unbeaten 82-run fiery knock against Gujarat Lions in the first leg match.
The Daredevils also boasts of a potent bowling attack. Even though he went for runs, Zaheer has been impressive up front without much success. The left-arm pacer, however, returned among wickets by picking up three scalps conceding just 21 runs in the last match.

Zaheer's pace partner Mohammad Shami, however, has leaked runs and would be hoping for an improved show.
Morris and Brathwaite have been handy in the middle overs although the West Indian went for some pounding during his three-wicket spell against Knight Riders.
The Daredevils also has two wily spinners in Amit Mishra and South African Imran Tahir.
Teams (from):
Gujarat Lions: Suresh Raina (C), Sarabjit Ladda, Akshadeep Nath, Amit Mishra, Dwayne Bravo, Paras Dogra, Eklavya Dwivedi, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Dinesh Karthik, Shivil Kaushik, Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Brendon McCullum, Pradeep Sangwan, Jaydev Shah, Umang Sharma, Dwayne Smith, Dale Styne, Pravin Tambe, Andrew Tye.

Delhi Daredevils: Zaheer Khan (C), Mayank Agarwal, Khaleel Ahmed, Sam Billings, Carlos Brathwait, Nathan Coulter Nile, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Akhil Harwardkar, Imran Tahir, Shreyas Iyer, Manipal Lamror, Chama Milind, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Chris Morris, Shahbaz Nadeem, Karun Nair, Pawan Negi, Rishabh Pant, Pratyush Singh, Sanju Samson, Pawan Suyal, Jayant Yadav.