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4 players whose careers took off after playing for Gujarat Lions

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Ishan Kishan and Basil Thampi
Photo Source: Twitter

The Gujarat Lions temporarily joined the Indian Premier League in 2016 and played two seasons. They joined the tournament along with the Rising Pune Supergiant when the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals received a suspension. The Gujarat Lions impressed everyone by playing top-quality cricket in 2016. They topped the season in their first season only, becoming the first new entrant team to do so.

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The Gujarat Lions featured some match-winners like Suresh Raina, Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Jason Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Dinesh Karthik, and others. The franchise also gave opportunities to several young and untested cricketers. This listicle features those four cricketers whose careers took off after they donned the Gujarat Lions jersey in IPL.

4. Ishan Kishan

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Ishan Kishan was the captain of the India U-19 cricket team. He earned his maiden IPL contract from the Gujarat Lions in 2016. In two seasons for the Rajkot-based franchise, the southpaw scored 319 runs at an excellent strike rate of 129.15. Kishan registered one half-century for the Gujarat Lions.

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After the Lions exited the IPL, Ishan played for the Mumbai Indians. In IPL 2020, Kishan impressed everyone with some exceptional performances. He missed out on his first IPL century by just one run against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

3. Andrew Tye

Many Chennai Super Kings fans would remember that their favorite franchise had signed Andrew Tye in the auction first. However, they did not give him a chance to showcase his talent. The Australian fast bowler then switched to the Gujarat Lions. Tye played his first match against the Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017.

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The right-arm medium-fast bowler shocked the fans by taking a hat-trick on IPL debut. He finished with figures of 5/17 in his maiden IPL match. Next year, the Kings XI Punjab signed Andrew Tye. In 2018, the Australian pacer won the Purple Cap award. Thus, Gujarat Lions gave him the stage and Kings XI Punjab got the maximum advantage of that decision in 2018.

2. Shivil Kaushik

Shivil Kaushik came into the spotlight because of his unique action. Kaushik became quite popular on social media due to his action, and he even succeeded in defying the batsmen with his spin bowling in IPL. Playing for the Gujarat Lions, Kaushik took six wickets in his debut season.

Kaushik took a three-wicket haul in the 2016 season and the fans can say that he was an important part of the Gujarat Lions’ journey to the top of the table. His career seemed to be on the right path after playing for the Gujarat Lions. Unfortunately, he could not replicate his 2016 performance in the 2017 season.

1. Basil Thampi

Basil Thampi
Photo: Basil Thampi/Instagram

A rising star of Indian cricket Basil Thampi was one of the few bright spots for the Gujarat Lions in their last IPL season. Thampi won the Emerging Player Season of the Year award for his incredible bowling performance in the Gujarat jersey. Playing his debut season, Basil took 11 wickets in 12 matches.

He had become one of the top death bowlers in the league. This performance ensured that Thampi earned a contract from the Sunrisers Hyderabad after Gujarat’s exit. He could play a vital role for the Orange Army in IPL 2021 because Bhuvneshwar Kumar will not be available for the franchise because of his six-month injury break.