Team Pune and Rajkot have already picked up some big names in the player draft from a pool of 50 players and they are getting ready to rumble with the other six franchises for the next two seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
These two new sides have also successfully separated the almost inseparable pair of MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina. Dhoni was picked up by Pune and Raina will be featuring for Rajkot. The latter expressed his excitement after getting picked by Team Rajkot and also stated that he is ready to compete against Dhoni with full sportsman spirit.
Dhoni and Raina have played together for the tainted franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) -- now suspended for two years -- for the last eight seasons of the IPL. No one ever thought that Dhoni and Raina will play against each other in this cash-rich popular T20 tournament.
Along with Raina, Team Rajkot also managed to take away Ravindra Jadeja, who is a local boy and will be aware of the local players and conditions. Raina too has played quite a lot of cricket in Rajkot in his younger days.
"I am very much familiar with the condition of Rajkot as I have played many matches in junior category like U-16 and U-19," Raina told reporters on Monday after getting picked up by Team Rajkot in IPL player draft in Mumbai.
"Jadeja is a local boy. Both of us are familiar with conditions here and we will use this to our advantage."
Meanwhile, Dhoni will be enjoying the company of Ravichandran Ashwin yet again while playing for Team Pune. Ashwin too was a key player for CSK for so many years under the able leadership of Dhoni. Dhoni will also brush his shoulders with Faf du Plessis who has won a number of matches for CSK in the past seasons of the IPL. Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith will add more colours to the batting lineup of Team Pune in the next two seasons of the IPL.
