IPL final: Can gung-ho Challengers emulate CSK, MI’s back-to-back titles?

In the 19-year-old history of IPL, only two teams: Chennai Super Kings (2010-11) and Mumbai Indians (2019-20) had been able to win back-to-back titles. Royal Challengers Bangalore seem to have what it takes – call it the swagger or balance of the team – to emulate them as they take on Gujarat Titans in the final at Ahmedabad on Sunday but then this format is notorious for being a game of small margins.

A look at the final league standings may show that there have been very little to choose from between the two finalists – both of them having finished on 18 points (alongwith Sunrisers Hyderabad), but Rajat Patidar’s RCB showed their apetite for the big game in the way they mauled the normally consistent Titans in Qualifier 1. It gave them the luxury of a five-day break before the final while Shubman Gill & Co will look for a ‘quick turnaround’ within 24 hours to be at their best after a sapping Qualifier 2 in Mullanpur.

The fatigue is something which Gill seemed wary about after his classical 104 made the Titans’ chase of a daunting 214 against Rajasthan Royals look easy on Friday night. The IPL had, for reasons known best to them, dispensed with the system of hosting the second Qualifier and final at the same venue this year – scheduling Qualifier 1 at Dharamsala, the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 at New Chandigarh and then the final in the western part of the country in Ahmedabad at a day’s gap.

The Virat Kohli factor, given the supreme touch he is in (600 runs in 15 matches) and an insatiable hunger for team success gives RCB a big plus – though the team management must be thankful to Kohli and the collective wisdom behind hoisting Rajat Patidar in the hot seat last season.  Not only has the Madhya Pradesh batter, no spring chicken at 32, given their middle order the dynamism that they lacked in the past despite a plethora of big names, Patidar's calm approach to captaincy has added to RCB’s stability too as a team across the last two seasons. 

A batting line-up comprising of Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer (in Phil Salt’s absence), Devdutt Padikkal, Tim David and Patidar have relentlessly pounded the opposition with some top-gear batting. The nature of pitches or opposition’s bowling strategies have had little effect on their approach as no other team has managed to go past 200 as often as they did in this edition of the IPL. The RCB also have a stingy bowling unit, where Bhuvneshwar Kumar had been like a rock and the seasoned Krunal Pandya showing his canny game sense in the spin bowling department time and again.

The Titans, arguably the most consistent franchise in last five years since their arrival (being 2022 champions and having made the play-offs on all but one occasion), have been overtly reliant on the top three of Gill, Sai Sudarshan and Jos Buttler and betrayed a soft underbelly in the middle order. Much to their credit, the trio has delivered on most occasions: Gill (722, strike-rate: 163), Sudharsan (710, SR: 159) and Buttler (507, SR: 157).

Come Sunday, a final before a gigantic home crowd will invite it’s own pressure and this is where the likes of Washington Sundar (an unlikely No.5 for a top franchise), Jason Holder and Rashid Khan will have to punch above their weight in maintaining the run rate in case of a loss of early wickets.

The Titans’ bowling line-up, on the other hand, has the wherewithal to stop the marauding RCB batters, particularly if the Ahmedabad pitch offers some grip. Kagiso Rabada, the current leader in the Purple Cap race with 28 wickets, Mohammad Siraj, Rashid Khan, Jason Holder and Prasidh Krishna have all given the South African strong support.

Rabada and Siraj have struck an effective combine this season, bowling a chart-topping 165 and 162 dot balls respectively - an indication of their hold over batters even on some benign tracks. The pair has used the hard length to be telling effect, depriving the feared six-hitters the much-needed space for their golf swing of the bat.

Let’s see who has the last laugh on a Super Sunday!

Catch the match

IPL final

Gujarat Titans vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Kolkata

 Start: 7.30 pm