10 things you need to know about IPL finals
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) have arguably been the standout teams of the IPL over the tournament’s short history, and they will be going head-to-head once again on Sunday as they battle for the IPL 2015 title. While CSK were consistent right through the season, Mumbai began their campaign rather poorly before building some irresistible momentum towards the latter stages to book their place in the final.
Ahead of the all-important encounter, here are 10 facts you should know about the IPL final:
1) The meeting will be the third between CSK and MI in an IPL final, having played each other previously in the 2010 and 2013 final. While CSK emerged triumphant on the first occasion, Mumbai got their own back in 2013 when they won by 23 runs and lifted their first ever IPL trophy.
2) MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina will be appearing in their 6th IPL final, overtaking former teammates Albie Morkel and Subramaniam Badrinath who have appeared in 5 each.
3) Raina also has a chance to become the leading run-scorer in the history of IPL finals, with the left-hander currently tied on 181 runs with current Kings XI Punjab opener Murali Vijay. While the 28-year-old has had a relatively poor season till now, he has a knack of stepping up to the plate in big matches and could do so once again.
4) With CSK having appeared so regularly in the final over the years, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that most of the records in IPL finals are held by them. As far as the most 50+ scores in IPL finals is concerned, the duo of Raina and Michael Hussey are tied at the top with two half-centuries each.
5) While there have been plenty of high scores in the finals till date, there has only been one individual century scored, which came from the bat of Wriddhiman Saha during last year’s IPL final. Sadly, however, his effort went in vain as KKR successfully chased down the target.
6) Dwayne Bravo and Albie Morkel, with 6 wickets each, share the distinction of taking the most wickets in IPL finals. While Morkel can’t add to his tally for the time being, Bravo has a great chance of not only doing that but also winning the purple cap for the second time in his IPL career. He has taken 24 wickets this season and with just the final to go, it is unlikely that either Ashish Nehra or Lasith Malinga, both of whom have 22 wickets, will catch up.
7) On only one occasion has the man of the match in an IPL final been from a team on the losing side. That was in 2009 when RCB skipper Anil Kumble was given the award for his majestic spell of 4 for 16 from his 4 overs.
8) If CSK can manage to overcome Mumbai at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata tonight, they would surpass Kolkata Knight Riders’ tally of two IPL titles. Currently, both CSK and KKR have two titles each with the former having won in consecutive years in 2010 and 2011 while the Gautam Gambhir-led KKR won in 2012 and 2014.
9) If Mumbai, however, emerge triumphant, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting would achieve the unique double of having won the lucrative T20 league as a player as well as a coach. The only other player to have achieved this feat is Darren Lehman, who won the IPL as a player with the Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and then backed it up as coach of the victorious Deccan Chargers in 2009.
10) The Eden Gardens will be hosting their second IPL final, having hosted once previously in 2013. Coincidentally, the two finalists on that occasion too were CSK and MI.
[Facts via Mohandas Menon]