NEW DELHI: The stage is set for an enthralling battle between Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings and the young and talented Shubman Gill representing the Gujarat Titans in the IPL final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
While Dhoni, who is approaching his 42nd birthday, may be looking for a memorable farewell, Gill, with his elegant batting style, is determined to prevent the Chennai Super Kings from securing their fifth IPL title.
1/10:IPL 2023 Final: CSK stand between GT and history
TNN
2/10:GT vs CSK
<p>Revenge will fuel Gujarat Titans' title defence when they clash with four-time winners Chennai Super Kings in Sunday's IPL final in Ahmedabad. </p>TNN
3/10:Qualifier 1
<p>Gujarat, who won the title in their debut season last year, topped the group stage this season but went down to Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday. </p>AFP
4/10:Qualifier 2
<p>Hardik Pandya's men bounced back from that defeat to thrash Mumbai Indians in Friday's Qualifier 2 to set up a rematch with Chennai in Ahmedabad. </p>Getty Images
5/10:History awaits GT
<p>Gujarat also have the personnel to become the first IPL franchise to win the league in their first two attempts. </p>ANI
6/10:Shubman Gill
<p>Opener Shubman Gill, the season's leading scorer, is in sublime form having smashed three hundreds in his last four innings. </p>IANS
7/10:Mohammed Shami
<p>The top three bowlers this season -- Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan and Mohit Sharma -- are also from Gujarat. </p>IANS
8/10:Rashid Khan
<p>While Shami has been impressive in the powerplay overs, Rashid has spearheaded Gujarat's spin attack claiming crucial wickets at important junctures. </p>PTI
9/10:Mahendra Singh Dhoni
<p>Chennai will have an opportunity to match Mumbai's five IPL titles in what could be their talismanic leader MS Dhoni's final season. </p>IANS
10/10:Inspiring leadership
<p>Like in his time as India captain, Dhoni has brought out the best in his teammates with his inspiring leadership. </p>IANSThe contrast in their cricketing journeys is intriguing. Around 19 years ago, a young Dhoni was taking his initial steps in the Indian national team, while a four-year-old Gill was honing his skills on a vast farmland in Fazilka village, near the Pakistan border. Even at that young age, Gill was already displaying his passion for the sport, using a specially made bat crafted by his loving grandfather.
As the final showdown takes place at the Narendra Modi Stadium, with its massive seating capacity of 132,000 spectators, Dhoni will don his cherished Canary Yellow jersey for the last time, aiming to thwart the rise of Gill, who is seen as the future megastar of Indian cricket. It will be Dhoni's final assignment in his illustrious career, and he will be determined to achieve a 'High Five' by winning the IPL title for the Chennai Super Kings.
The clash between these two players, representing their respective teams, adds an extra layer of excitement to the IPL final. Fans eagerly anticipate witnessing the battle between the experienced master, Dhoni, and the young prodigy, Gill, as they vie for supremacy on the grand stage.
Three hundreds and 851 runs don't happen in every season but on a batting belter at the Motera, what will be Dhoni's strategy to rein in the 'Mohali Marauder'?
Will it be Deepak Chahar's swing or Ravindra Jadeja's wicket-to-wicket bowling? Or will it be Moeen Ali, who could be the 'Joker in the Pack' with his enticing flighted deliveries outside the off-stump which could sharply break back. Can Matheesha Pathirana bowl some incisive toe-crushers?
A technically near-perfect batter against a captain known for thinking out of the box. It can't get more exciting than this.
His die-hard fans might expect him to come back again next year but even Dhoni, who has played the entire season with a heavily strapped left knee might find it extremely difficult to keep up with the demands of the shortest format.
So for every 'Thala' (elder brother in Tamil) fan, it's all about savouring the Dhoni moments till it lasts. In this CSK set-up, he could afford to bat at No. 8 in most games but entering the finals with a bowling line-up that missed Deepak Chahar for the better part of fist half and had to turn a profligate Tushar Deshpande into a dependable wicket-taker.
Turning an inconsistent Shivam Dube into a six-hitting bully or overseeing the return of Ravindra Jadeja, the T20 bowler, the legend of Dhoni will never cease to exist. It will only grow and his captaincy stories will also be burnished with coats of myth decades down the line.
They say familiarity breeds contempt but contempt would be the last word in Dhoni and CSK's mind when they face Hardik Padya's Titans.
The CSK logo features a "Roaring Lion" but they would take the team from Land of Gir Forest lightly at their own peril.
After 73 games, the two of the most consistent teams are pitted against each other in the summit clash.
No team has emulated the structural and team building ethos of Chennai Super Kings as minutely as Gujarat Titans, another team, where cricketing decisions are based on sound logic, consistency and no interference from overbearing owners.
There is a skipper in Pandya, who believes that there is only one way to lead the team. It's called 'The Mahi Way'.
Batters win matches but bowlers win tournaments is an old saying and it couldn't be more apt when one tracks Titans' performance.
Mohammed Shami (28 wickets), Rashid Khan (27 wickets) and Mohit Sharma (24 wickets) have executed plans more often than not and thus it hasn't really effected the Titans that second highest run-scorer after Gill's 851 runs is skipper Hardik Pandya (325), who is more than 500 runs behind.
Wriddhiman Saha, a keeper-par-excellence, would consider himself lucky, that team management never thought of replacing him despite a strike-rate of 127 opening the batting and only one fifty plus score in 16 knocks.
And herein, Dhoni would try to seize the opportunity. If they can get Gill our early, none of the other batters have shown wherewithal to fight hard and bowlers would need a decent total on board.
Under Dhoni, if players like Ajinkya Rahane (299 runs in 13 matches, two fifties) and Shivam Dube have found their groove this season, youngsters bowlers such as Sri Lanka's Matheesha Pathirana (17 wickets in 15 matches) and India's uncapped Tushar Deshpande (21 wickets in 15 matches) have also been able to find their feet at the IPL stage.
In CSK's batting line-up, Devon Conway (625 runs in 15 matches, six fifties) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (564 runs in 15 matches, four fifties) have time and again provided CSK with resolute starts at the top.
The big-hitting Dube (386 runs in 15 matches, three fifties) is the second joint-highest six-hitter for CSK in this IPL with 33 sixes, joined by Gill in the list.
There are no clear favourites and it could be one of the finest finals in history of IPL.
Teams (from):
Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R. Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Dasun Shanaka, Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little and Mohit Sharma
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c&wk), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Sisanda Magala, Shivam Dube, Dwaine Pretorius, Ajay Mandal, Nishant Sindhu, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Simarjeet Singh, Matheesha Pathirana, Mahesh Theekshana, Bhagath Verma, Prashant Solanki, Shaikh Rasheed, Tushar Deshpande
(With PTI inputs)
