IPL 2016, GL vs RCB Playing 11: List of today's Probable XI for Gujarat Lions

The roaring Gujarat Lions will take on the powerful Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 19th match of the VIVO IPL 2016 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. The Lions have been a revelation in their very first IPL and are currently placed second in the league table. On the other hand, Bangalore have had a slightly inconsistent run so far having won 2 and lost 2 out of their 4 matches. While GL have managed to excel in almost every department of the game, RCB have depended mainly on the big names in their batting line-up, primarily Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Sunday's match presents an opportunity for both teams to take another step forward in the run-up to the playoffs.

Here we take a look at the likely team for the Gujarat Lions against RCB:

Batting

Opener Aaron Finch has been the key player for Gujarat as far as their batting is concerned with 191 runs at an incredible average of 63.66 and 3 half-centuries. Skipper Suresh Raina has provided him adequate support with 146 runs at a brisk strike rate of 137.73.

The biggest concern for the GL batting department has been the dismal form of the swashbuckling Brendon McCullum who has just 73 runs from 4 innings. Even Dinesh Karthik has been pretty average with 58 runs in 3 innings.

The rest of the batting line-up needs to rally around Finch and Raina if Gujarat Lions want to continue with their dream run so far.

All-rounders

GL's fine array of all-rounders including the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner have not lived up to their tag thus far. With the bat, the trio have been struggling and Jadeja, Bravo and Faulkner average 13, 17 and 7 respectively. To be fair to Faulkner, though, he has batted just once in the tournament.

As the 9th season of the IPL progresses, the Gujarat Lions all-rounders will need to contribute a lot more with the bat if they want to keep up with the top teams.

Bowling

Dwayne Bravo, who held the Orange Cap for quite a while at the start of the season, has easily been GL's best bowler with 6 wickets in 4 games. Dhawal Kulkarni has provided good support to the West Indian in the 2 matches that he has played, conceding his runs at an economy of under 6.

The spin attack has also shown a lot of promise with Jadeja and Pravin Tambe claiming 4 wickets each. The Indian left-arm spinner has been quite miserly with an economy rate of just 6.27 in 3 matches.

The bowlers have been producing the goods for the Lions in the 2016 IPL but they will face their toughest test yet against the mighty RCB batting line-up.

Probable Playing XI – Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dale Steyn, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe.