After the intense cricketing battle for last 2 months, World cricket is finally going to witness the Finals of the Indian Premier League between Gujarat Titans and Rajsthan Royals tonight.
Gujarat has been a team to beat this time and has beaten Rajasthan already twice in IPL 2022. On the other hand, Rajasthan has found their lost mojo in the 2nd eliminator and is looking strong too.
Rajasthan Royals won it way back in 2008 and are riding high on confidence as well as on emotions. Royals would love to win the trophy as a tribute to their first ever IPL Captain- Shane Warne who passed away a couple of months ago. On the other hand, Gujarat Titans would love to make their debut season even more remarkable by winning the IPL Title.
Before the battle of the final countdown begins, let us briefly address the 5 mini battles that will decide the course of the Finals.
The battle of Two New Captains:
The IPL 2022 Finals will be also remembered as a battle of two new captains Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson. who led their teams wonderfully throughout with no formal international experience. Though Samson was part of the Royals leadership setup in the past couple of seasons, it was all new for Hardik Pandya who accepted and prospered in this role beautifully. The way Hardik has led his team with the tactics and with the bat in hand has been a great positive for his team. His bowling has been an added bonus as well.
Its Jos Buttler vs Gujarat Titans batting lineup:
Jos Buttler has been a revelation this season and is confortably sitting at the top of the pile with 825* runs. The Orange Cup holder is bound to eclipse David Warner's tally of 843 runs if not Kohli's 973 but with the form he is in with an unbeaten 106* against RCB , everything is possible.
On the other hand, Gujarat has played collectively as a team with all players contributing whenever the team required them. Infact Gujarat's middle order has been found hard to breach with their number 4 (Hardik Pandya) and 5 (David Miller) both scoring above 400 runs in this season. The openers too have chipped in when required.
Rashid Khan vs Yuzvendra Chahal:
The outcome of the battle between Rashid Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal will decide the course of this match. Chahal who is shy of the purple cap with 1 wicket (26 wickets) will be up against Rashid who has been hard to score of against. Infact Rashid enjoys an economy rate of 6.75 in IPL 2022. If the pitch promises a hint of spin expect the likes of Rashid and Chahal to light up the stadium. Not to forget the likes of Sai Kishore and Ravi Ashwin who too can contribute.
The Pace Battle:
It's the battle between Mohammad Shami and Prasidh Krishna that can be an underrated battle on the Final match day. Mohammad Shami hasn't played in an IPL Final before whereas Prasidh has been there before. Shami has 19 wickets from 15 innings whereas Prasidh has 18 wickets from 16. With both the players of capable of bowling upfront as well as in the death, expect it to be a battle of pace. Not to forget the likes of Boult, Joseph who too can spark wonders on field.
The Battle outside the field:
This has to be the mother of coincidence with the likes of Asish Nehra and Gary Kirsten taking on the duo of Lasith Malinga and Kumar Sangakkara. The last time these 4 were on field in an final was at the 2011 World Cup when Gary Kirsten who coached India and Nehra who wss in the squad won. Infact the Nehra-Kirsten duo had got the better of Sanga-Malinga already twice in IPL. It remains to be seen whether the tables get turned this time or not.
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