Gujarat Lions suffered their second consecutive defeat after they were beaten by nine wickets by defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday.

Hyderabad won the toss and opted to ball first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium against the famed Gujarat Lions batting lineup. However, the Lions were restricted to 135/7 in their 20 overs with Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan taking 3/19 in his allotted four overs. He picked the three most dangerous batsman in the Gujarat side which include Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina and Aaron Finch.

Gujarat continue to plunge

In both games, Gujarat have massively suffered in the bowling department. They lost their first match against Kolkata Knight Riders by 10 wickets with Kolkata chasing down a target of 184. Against Hyderabad, they only managed to grab the wicket of out-of-form Shikhar Dhawan, who edged the ball to McCullumm off a Praveen Kumar delivery.

The bowlers have failed to bag wickets and have leaked runs. They have been ineffective in the Powerplay and have failed to read the pitch. Chris Lynn and David Warner were at their sublime best against the Gujarat bowlers taking them to the cleaners.

They have been below par even with the bat as they have smashed only five boundaries in the Powerplay against Hyderabad. With Jason Roy and Brendon McCullum opening the innings, the duo are yet to get going after solid starts in both games. With Raina and Aaron Finch waiting to flex their muscles, Gujarat need to get their act together before it gets a little too late.

Return of Sir Jadeja

Gujarat are missing Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja. Period. In their first match against Kolkata, Raina said that they are missing out on their experience. “We missed the experience of Jadeja and Bravo. Jadeja has done really well in T20 format. When you are not bowling well upfront, you need experience, someone like Bravo in the middle,” said Raina.

Clearly the bowling department needs an upgrade and who better than Jadeja and Bravo? During the match against Hyderabad, coach Brad Hodge said that Jadeja will be available for the next game against Rising Pune Supergiant on Friday. Raina also hinted that the Lions would be able to utilise Jadeja’s services for the next match.