If you are expecting to watch Pune and Gujarat in the IPL 2018, then you are wrong. According to reports, both teams will not play the next year IPL tournament.

The 2-year contract for both teams will end this year. In all probability, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will again join the IPL party from 2018. Actually, the contract for both teams will end in 2017. Hence, if the teams want to play in 2018 then the IPL governing council will have to conduct auction again.

If the IPL governing council decides to retain Pune and Gujarat then they will have to reshuffle the matches with 10 teams. It will cause undue delay in the conduct of playoffs and finals. The complete schedule will change if the IPL body decided to play with 10 teams.

Kolkata Knight Riders have won four of their five matches played so far in IPL 2017. The team is gearing up to have a fight with Gujarat Lions on their home turf, Eden Gardens. Previously, KKR smashed Gujarat by beating them with 10 wickets at Rajkot.

According to Yusuf Pathan, Kolkata has a definite advantage over Gujarat but that doesn’t mean they are on a sticky wicket. The tournament has a long way to go and there are chances for those teams which are on the backside to come up with full energy.

Pathan disclosed that their confidence level is very high but in IPL we can’t rule out any single team as weak, said Pathan.

Gujarat may not have clicked so far, but that doesn’t make them a weak team

Pathan said that fielding is still a cause for concern even though they had an impressive ride so far. However, he is hopeful of his team performing well in the remaining matches to secure a spot in the playoffs. The team mates talk lot of positives inside the dressing room. However, the team needs to improve one few aspects, which they are aware of.

Pathan revealed that Kolkata Knight Riders have a long way to go in the IPL 2017 and need to perform consistently at high level. He is hopeful of good performance from all team mates since there are nine matches left in the season to play.

Yami Gautam performed at the final opening ceremony of the IPL 2017 on April 15 at Ferozshah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi. The performance was conducted ahead of the Delhi Daredevils – Kings XI Punjab match.

Meanwhile, Punjabi singer Raftaar also performed on a song number ‘Dhakkad’ from the film ‘Dangal’. He also rendered few other blockbusters. As in the other matches, Zaheer Khan presented the skipper Glenn Maxwell with a memento. After the event, sexy Gautam took to the stage and performed.

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Among other songs, Gautam performed for ‘Rum Whiskey’ from the film ‘VIcky Donor’ and ‘Nachenge Saari Raat’ from the film ‘Junooniyat’. Finally, Punjabi Singer Guru Randhawa also performed on the stage by pulling the socks with the ace number ‘Tenu Suit suit karda’.