Gujarat Lions are set to make their IPL debut under the leadership of Suresh Raina when they take on the Kings XI Punjab on Monday, April 11. Speaking about his new assignment, the India all-rounder said, “I have done it (been captain) for Uttar Pradesh, I have done it for the Indian team and I have done it in the IPL previously. So this will be interesting for me to just go there and express myself. We do have a coach from Australia (Brad Hodge) and he has done really well in the IPL as well as for the Australia team. We do have a lot of youngsters and a lot of experienced players in our side. We are pumped up and looking forward to our game tomorrow.” “Captain is just a name. You need to have good coaches around, good players around. You need to go there and enjoy. The IPL is like that, you just need to go and enjoy yourself,” he added while highlighting the significance of all the stakeholders in a team. Elaborating further on the composition of the newly formed team, Raina stated, “It is a new team but we still have old teammates. Baz (Brendon McCullum) is there, (Dwayne) Bravo is there (from the Chennai Super Kings), and a few others are also with us. It is important to just know your strengths and look to be positive in all three departments and the results will fall in place.” While the team has formidable international players who have established themselves in the international circuit, the Lions also have uncapped Indian players who have been making their presence felt in the domestic circuit. “We do have a balanced side. To be honest I think all the players have done really well in domestic cricket. They have done really well in the IPL as well as when representing their respective first-class teams. We just need to go out there and start very positively. I'm pretty sure we're going to do really well,” Raina elaborated. When asked about the younger players that have impressed him, coach Brad Hodge said, “There have been quite a few actually. We arrived in Rajkot quite early. So that gave the opportunity to see the youngsters really up close and personal. And that was quite an important thing for a coach to understand, those guys who come from different parts of India. I was really impressed with Ishan Kishan, the Under-19 captain. I'm sure he's worked pretty well with Rahul Dravid there in the India Under-19 set up. He's an exciting player. The guys from UP - they were the champions as well (in the domestic T20 competition). Eklavya (Dwivedi) is hitting the ball extremely well. Young Akshdeep Nath is an up and coming star who hits the ball really hard. These guys might not have had opportunities at the highest level but certainly at the domestic level we know that they are champions. So what they have been doing is pretty much correct.” Speaking about building a new team, the Lions coach explained, “We worked very hard, like every other team. This franchise came about quite late. So as coaching staff, we were put together quite late. But we worked very hard and very closely with Suresh (Raina) to really understand the local boys as well. We've got some extremely (good) talent within the side and on the bench as well. There was a lot of planning and a lot of work went into the numbers and the strategic management. Cricket is actually a great thing - when you get behind the scenes and try to put the chess pieces together, it’s really interesting. We're pretty confident that the work we have done behind the scenes will put us in good stead for the match days.” As they head in to the game against KXIP there are a few Australians that the Lions could be facing like Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson. Asked if he had shared any tips about them, Hodge said, “Lot of those guys have played a lot of international cricket and we have all studied their games and studied exactly where they hit the ball. But, you know, in the game situation that can go out of the window sometimes. They're good cricketers, aren’t they? They are exceptional cricketers. There is also Shaun Marsh, and the recently-retired Mitchell Johnson, who is probably fired up to do well. With IPL there is always a team of eleven good players, so you can't neglect the other eight who are around, whether they are Australians or (from) any other country. They are always dangerous, so we will give them their due course and make sure we plan properly.” Asked who he perceives as the trump card for his team as they begin their campaign, captain Raina said, “Quite a few players, to be honest. I think in this format you have to see where you are going at that particular moment. Today you're in Mohali, tomorrow you're playing in Bangalore. You need to see the wickets and you need to see each and everything – what’s the best team you can field. And then you can always bank on your XI that they can do really well against different teams. So, I think, it is a team game, I would say. But few of our players can surprise any team on a particular day. So I'm pretty sure we are going to do really good.”