IPL 2016, RPS vs GL: Faf Du Plessis out of IPL, Rising Pune Supergiants bring in Usman Khawaja

Gujarat have relied heavily on their swashbuckling openers. Aaron Finch did it for them. In his absence, Dwayne Smith replaced him, and the results were equally impressive. For Pune, the form of Ajinkya Rahane at the top of the order has been encouraging. The Mumbaikar has notched up 223 runs so far this season. Steve Smith also returned to form with an unbeaten 46 against Hyderabad.

With ball

One of the reasons for Lions’ success has been their resourcefulness in the bowling. Dwayne Bravo, with his slower deliveries, and Dhawal Kulkarni have been the top picks for their side. Leg-spinner Pravin Tambe too has impressed, with five wickets. To top it up, they have the experienced Praveen Kumar, who manages to extract swing even on the docile tracks. For Pune, Ashok Dinda and Mitchell Marsh’s bowling against Hyderabad will surely inspire confidence in their ranks.

News from the bench

There is bad news coming from the Pune dugout. Just days after Kevin Pietersen hobbled out of the pitch with a calf injury, Faf Du Plessis announced he would no longer be a part of this IPL. The reason being he has fractured his finger. On Thursday, the 31-year-old took to Twitter to confirm the development.

“And so my Ipl tournament unfortunately comes to and end.Broken finger and out for 6 weeks.Thanx India and @RPSupergiants it’s been fun,” he tweeted. Du Plessis is Supergiants’ second-highest run-scorer with 206 runs at an average of 34.33 in six matches.

And so my Ipl tournament unfortunately comes to and end.Broken finger and out for 6 weeks.Thanx India and @RPSupergiants it’s been fun.👌🏼

— Faf Du Plessis (@faf1307) 28 April 2016

Pune have included Usman Khawaja as a replacement for Du Plessis. Khawaja has been in prolific form for the Sydney Thunders – the franchise he represents in Big Bash. Meanwhile, Gujarat may still not include Aaron Finch in their line-up, even if he recovers from his hamstring injury.