Suresh Raina appointed captain of Gujarat Lions for IPL 2016

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajkot owned by mobile phone manufacturer Intex has chose to name the franchise Gujarat Lions.

Raina looked ahead to the February 6 auction in Bangalore, where Gujarat can add to the existing five-man party of himself, Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo.

The names of the team and its logo, skipper and coach were announced in the Capital on Tuesday where Raina and team owner Keshav Bansal were also present.

Both Raina and Jadeja played for Chennai Super Kings, till the former IPL champions were suspended for two years by a Supreme Court-appointed panel for corruption.

The reproduction of the story/photograph in any form will be liable for legal action. Meanwhile, former Australian Brad Hodge was named the coach of Gujarat Lions. The bidding for the two teams this time was done through a reverse auction where the company that bids the lowest (lowest share of IPL’s central pool revenue) would be the victor.

Bansal informs that the team’s name has been chosen via online poll.

“Our home ground will be Rajkot”.

Speaking on MS Dhoni’s techniques, the stylish batsman said “We have played few finals together”. After the decision to suspend CSK and RR for two years, the BCCI had chose to invite bids for the two new teams for 2016 and 2017. Fast scoring Indian southpaw Suresh Raina will be leading the team. “We are in talks with the Gujarat government and may come up with an academy there”.

Hodge also played for three IPL franchises – Kolkata Knight Riders, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Rajasthan Royals.