It has been a disappointing season for Gujarat Lions in IPL 2017, the last year of its existence. From next season, The Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings are expected to make their comeback from next season as their suspension will end in 2017. Dinesh Karthik, the 31-year-old wicketkeeper batsman of GL, said that the team was not just good enough to qualify for the play- offs. “It has been an absolutely disappointing season to say the least. We have just turned up for the party and we are just not good enough to qualify for the play- offs, as simple as that,” he said. “There were games where we lacked in batting and a lot of games in bowling, but overall it has been a disappointing season,” he said.
Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredevils are languishing in the bottom half with 8 points each. The race for the play-offs has been intensified with Mumbai Indians becoming the first team to qualify. The race for the remaining three spots is still open, with the like of Rising Pune Supergiants, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings X1 Punjab still in the fray. Delhi Daredevils too are with a chance. Suresh Raina's team topped the league stage last season, but two successive defeats to Hyderabad and Bangalore saw their crash out one step before the final of the competition. But this time, probably the last time, the performance of the franchise was below par.
Keshave Bansal-owned Gujarat Lions is based in Rajkot. Bansal is the youngest franchise to own an IPL team. Apart from captain Suresh Raina, other team members are, Aaron Finch, Aksh Deep Nath, Chirag Suri, Jason Roy, Jaydev Shah, Pratham Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, James Fulkner, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubham Agarwal, Brendon McCullum, Dinesh Karthik, Ishan Kishan, Andres Tye Basil Thampi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Manpreet Gony, Munaf Patel, Nathu Singh, Pradeep Sangwar, Praveen Kumar, Shadab Jakali, Shelley Shaurya, Shivlal Kaushi and Tejas Baroka. Later, Irfan Pathan who went unsold during the auction has been included as a replacement for Dwayne Bravo. Except a few players like Suresh Raina, McCullum and Dinesh Karthik, the performance of other players were not praiseworthy.
Other prominent Gujarati cricketers playing in the IPL 2017 are, Parthiv Patel playing for Mumbai Indians, Yusuf Pathan – Kolkota Knight Riders and Axar Patel for Kings X1 Punjab.
