IPL 2017: Smith led Rising Pune Supergiants takes on star studded Mumbai Indians in their opening contest

It is the season of IPL and Rising Pune Supergiants will be lead by none other than Australian skipper Steve Smith. He has replaced MS Dhoni as captain for this season and it becomes even more interesting to see how Dhoni plays under Smith’s captaincy.

As we are aware of acrimony between Smith and some of the Indian players, it promises to be an exciting venture for Super Giants this season. Smith will have the opportunity for redemption from test series defeat against India, IPL will give him the chance to prove that he can sustain and win under the high-pressure scenario.

SuperGiants will heavily rely on experienced players like MS Dhoni, Steve Smith and Ajinkya Rahane, Faf Du Plessis, Ben Stokes.

While Dhoni is undoubtedly the best player in T 20 format, likes of Rahane will enrich the youngsters with their experience.

Also Read: IPL 2017, RPS vs MI: Mahendra Singh Dhoni to play his first IPL game as non-captain 

Pune bought England all-rounder Ben Stokes as the most expensive player this season with a deal worth Rs 14.5 crores.

After R Ashwin was ruled out of the tournament due to injury, Pune roped in Aussie leggie Adam Zampa to strengthen their spin attack.

This is the most important aspect of SuperGiants as all the above-mentioned players are match winners.

Apart from this, players like Rajat Bhatia, Manoj Tiwari, Ashok Dinda and Imran Tahir are capable of executing brilliant performance on their day.

Bara ka Punekars? 😉 #smithy@stevesmith49 pic.twitter.com/8zdbMHjKpX

— RisingPuneSupergiant (@RPSupergiants) April 5, 2017

Rising Pune Supergiants

Top batsmen

M S Dhoni, Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Faf Du Plessis, Manoj Tiwari, Usman Khawaja

Top Bowlers

Ashok Dinda, Rajat Bhatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Stokes, Imran Tahir 

Rising Pune Supergiants have played Mumbai Indians twice in the last edition of IPL, with both teams winning one encounter each.

Also Read: IPL 10: Rising Pune Supergiants take on Mumbai Indians on home venue in Maharashtra Derby

Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS)will face Mumbai Indians in their opening game of the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Thursday. It’ll also mark Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s first game as non-captain in IPL.

RPS Probable XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Steven Smith (C) , Mayank Agarwal, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Ankit Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Adam Zampa/Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur.