Gujarat Lions owner 'happy' over talented players in squad

Gujarat Lions owner Keshav Bansal expressed happiness over the fact that the new franchise managed to get “experienced and talented” players in the squad.

“We have a strong core team, we worked hard on structure draft that was submitted to the Indian Premier League (IPL) to pick up players and I am satisfied that I managed to get the players which I wanted in my team,” Bansal told reporters at the SCA stadium in Khandheri here.

“We wanted to make a balanced team with experience and talent and I am happy that we could manage to get the experience and talented cricketers” he said.

He also expressed joy over the fact that “great players” like Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja among others will play for Gujarat Lions.

“Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner, Dwayne Bravo all are great players and have done well for their respective country and I am happy that these players would play from Gujarat Lions,” he said.

When asked about skipper Raina’s recent dismal form, he said, “Every player faces this problem in their career, (Suresh) Raina is a matured cricketer and I don’t think that he would be under pressure for leading a side first time in IPL.

“Every player remains under pressure to perform well and (Suresh) Raina has very good track record. Our focus is to provide a suitable atmosphere to players can perform well” Bansal added.

The Lions will play their first match on April 11 against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali in the IPL.

He further said that Gujarat Lions team song would be launched soon and it’s theme is “game mari chhe” (game is mine).