Top-heavy Lions look to outdo debut success

Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Aaron Finch, Suresh Raina (capt), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ishan Kishan, James Faulkner, Praveen Kumar, Shadab Jakati, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shivil Kaushik

Batsmen - Jason Roy, Chirag Suri, Jaydev Shah, Pratham Singh

Bowlers - Andrew Tye, Manpreet Gony, Munaf Patel, Pradeep Sangwan, Nathu Singh, Basil Thampi, Shelley Shaurya, Tejas Baroka

Allrounders - Dwayne Bravo, Shubham Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshdeep Nath

A robust top order. Gujarat Lions were the only team last year to score 70 or more in the Powerplay - a feat they achieved four times. Five of their batsmen - Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Smith - aggregated more than 300 runs; no other team had more than three.

Lions also have an effective new-ball pair in Dhawal Kulkarni and Praveen Kumar. Kulkarni's 14 wickets in the Powerplay were the most for any bowler in 2016, and it went well with the miserliness of Praveen, who has the second-best economy rate (6.27) for an Indian in Powerplays over the last five years.

Their lower-middle order has underwhelmed. Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner, who would be expected to finish innings off, have not been up to the mark over their last two seasons in the IPL. Bravo averaged 21 with a strike-rate of 125, and Faulkner's corresponding figures were 14 and 120.

Lions also lack bench strength, which may hurt them upfront as Bravo is out injured early on and Ravindra Jadeja will sit out of the first few games after a long Test season. They will be wary of batting first as well, having lost five out of six matches doing so, including two Qualifiers.

Table-toppers at the end of the league stage, Lions finished third after defeats in the two Qualifiers to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Lions let go of eight players, but the core group largely remained intact. The injured Dale Steyn was the only overseas talent they released.

After their bowling caved in clutch moments last year, Lions made concerted investments in experienced IPL campaigners like Munaf Patel and Manpreet Gony, apart from fresh recruits Nathu Singh and Basil Thampi - the Kerala quick who has a reputation of hitting 140 kph.

They also retained left-arm wristspinner Shivil Kaushik, who had a stint with Hull County Cricket Club in England following the IPL last year.

Bravo's hamstring injury, sustained in the BBL last year, will keep him out for the first few matches. Chirag Suri, IPL's first recruit from the UAE, is likely to be available throughout, including Lions' first two fixtures, against Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, despite UAE's Intercontinental Cup match against Papua New Guinea, beginning on April 7. Jason Roy will leave on May 1 as England tour Ireland for an ODI series.

With five victories in seven matches, Lions had a marginally better away record than at home, where they won four in seven. While they earned six wins from their first seven matches, their form took a hit with back-to-back losses in Rajkot - their original home - against Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils. Successive wins after shifting base to Kanpur gave them a top-two finish.