Once you get past the team’s ridiculous name and the fact that this franchise itself is confused whether it wants to go with the singular Supergiant or the collective Supergiants, the Rising Pune Supergiant(s) are the strongest-looking team on paper in the Indian Premier League. They’ve got some big names, with current and former international captains such as Steve Smith, MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis in the squad. They’ve also got one the best all-rounders in world cricket at the moment – England’s Ben Stokes. They also had India’s R Ashwin before he was ruled out with injury.

After finishing second-to-last in their debut IPL season last year, the RPS management made a statement of intent by making Stokes the most expensive foreign player in IPL history, purchasing his services for a mind-boggling Rs 14.5 crore at the player auction. The second statement of intent came soon after, with the management announcing that Smith, and not Dhoni, will lead the team in this season. Whether the management took this decision expecting Dhoni’s departure back to the yellow of Chennai Super Kings once the franchise’s suspension is lifted from next season is anyone’s guess, but they were still dismissing a man who had won two IPL titles as captain.

Smith’s captaincy at Pune was again in the limelight after the fractious India-Australia series last month, in which the Australia skipper was involved in at least two controversies. At the end of the series, Smith reportedly approached his Pune teammate Rahane, who was the stand-in India captain for the fourth and final Test, to invite the Indian team for a post-series drink in the Australian dressing room. Rahane and India turned down the invitation.

Whether all that drama will spill over into the RPS dressing room is to be seen, even though Rahane said it was all “in the past”. Smith has got a lot on his hands over the next month and a half, and it will be quite a challenge for him considering he is coming off a long international season. Will sacking Dhoni as captain come back to bite RPS?

Old faces

Steve Smith: The team’s new captain was their third-highest run-scorer last season, even though he played only eight matches. Smith scored 270 runs in those eight matches, but a bulk of them came in one game itself, when he hit 101 against Gujarat Lions. Considering the imperious form he is in, having scored 499 runs at 71.28 in the four Tests against India prior to the IPL, the team will look to him to spearhead their batting line-up.

MS Dhoni: The team’s former captain was a shadow of his form from earlier IPL seasons last year, scoring only one half-century in 14 matches played. He’ll probably have a point to prove after being dismissed as captain and would be fresh, having only been involved in domestic matches since the end of the India-England limited-overs series in January.

Ajinkya Rahane: The team’s leading run-scorer last season will have a lot of hopes hanging on him. This is also a great chance for Rahane to hone his captaincy skills by being involved with the younger Indian players in the squad. However, Rahane is also expected to jump ships back to Rajasthan Royals once the franchise is back from suspension next season.

Faf du Plessis: The camaraderie between Du Plessis and Smith will be one to watch out for after the incident-filled Australia-South Africa series last year. The South African captain played only six matches for RPS last season and is again expected to leave the squad midway for his national team’s limited overs series against England in May.

New faces

Ben Stokes: The English all-rounder has Rs 14.5 crore and a lot more riding on him. This will be the first time Stokes plays in the IPL and he seems to be the ideal type of player for the format. He had a decent tour of India last year and, so, the conditions will not be alien to him. If RPS are to reach the qualifiers this season, rest assured Stokes will have a lot to do with it.

Imran Tahir: The top-ranked player in the world in T20 Internationals went unpicked in the IPL player auction, to the surprise of many, before being scooped up by RPS as a replacement to the injured Mitchell Marsh. In the absence of Ashwin, Tahir has a chance to lead the RPS bowling attack and prove his doubters wrong.

Manoj Tiwary: The 31-year-old was Bengal’s leading run-scorer in the 2016-’17 Ranji Trophy season, with 643 runs in seven matches at 49.46, including two centuries and three fifties. He also did well in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring one century and two fifties. Likely to bat at No 5 or 6, Tiwary will have an important role to play in the middle and lower-middle orders.

Strengths

Clearly their batting, which is made up of some big names from the international circuit. Their top six are likely to be Rahane, Du Plessis, Smith, Dhoni, Tiwary/Mayank Agarwal and Ben Stokes, which is quite an enviable line-up. RPS will be banking on their batters to do the job for them, considering their bowling isn’t the strongest.

Weaknesses

As mentioned above, their bowling isn’t the strongest. Ashwin’s absence is a huge blow, and it will be up to Stokes and Tahir, if he plays, to lead the attack. Their fast bowlers include the likes of Ashok Dinda and Ishwar Pandey, who aren’t the most reliable ones going around. Considering the foreign quota, RPS might also have to choose between playing Tahir and last year’s surprise package, Adam Zampa.

Prediction

RPS will give a better fight than last season, but just miss the bus for the qualifiers, likely to finish fifth at best.

X-factor

Ben Stokes. If he clicks, RPS could just make it through to the qualifiers.

Full squad

Steve Smith (captain), MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Ben Stokes, Imran Tahir, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Milind Tandon, Usman Khawaja, Ankush Bains, Rahul Tripathi, Saurabh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, Lockie Ferguson, Daniel Christian, Baba Aparajith, Rajat Bhatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Ashok Dinda, Ishwar Pandey, Adam Zampa, Deepak Chahar, Jaskaran Singh.

Head coach: Stephen Fleming

Assistant coach: Hrishikesh Kanitkar

Bowling coach: Eric Simons