Raina to miss first ever IPL match

RAJKOT: Gujarat Lions coach Brad Hodge, on Friday, confirmed that captain Suresh Raina will be missing his first ever match in the Indian Premier League history when his team faces Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday (today).

“He is not coming. He is with his wife and child. So, this will be the first time in the history of the IPL that Raina will be missing a match,” he told reporters on the eve of the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chinnaswamy stadium here.

“Probably Brendon McCullum would take the leadership tomorrow,” he added.

Hodge further said it will be a huge loss for the team as he is a player with a lot of IPL experience.

“It is a huge loss if someone has almost 4,000 runs in the IPL history. Having said that we have got some players who can step into his shoes. We have players like Dwayne Smith, Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Bravo — they are all match winners. They can step up and win a game from any position,” he said.