IPL 2017 Final: 5 reasons why Rising Pune Supergiant can beat Mumbai Indians
The Pune franchise in the Indian Premier League have always been associated with a bunch of underperforming stars and a team that looked as if it was there just to make up the numbers.
Sahara Pune Warriors were abysmal in their three-year stint in the IPL whereas the Rising Pune Supergiant also didn't ruffle any feathers last season. So naturally, at the beginning of this edition of India's premier cricketing extravaganza, no one would have given the newly assembled squad any chance to fight for the trophy on May 21.
Pune have come a long way in this competition as Steve Smith and co. bulldozed their way into the top two after a stuttering start to the campaign. An exciting contest is on the cards with Pune qualifying for the finals straight from qualifier 1 whereas Mumbai had to take the hard route and come through from the eliminator and the second qualifier.
Also read: IPL 2017 Final, RPS vs MI Match Prediction: Who will win today's match between Rising Pune Supergiant and Mumbai Indians
Without further ado, let's delve right into the reasons as to why Rising Pune Supergiant will win this year's Indian Premier League and script a success story like the Leicester Citys and Aizawl FCs of the world:
#1 Captain Smith leading right from the front
It is always said that a captain is as good as his team. Both the captains for tomorrow are considered as two of the best current players in the world but this has been a campaign where Steve Smith has gone on to rectify his mistakes in his batting in his IPL career and build a probable title winning squad whereas Sharma has struggled throughout the season with the bat.
This is a reason which gives Pune a slight edge over their rivals as Smith has been easily in better form than his counterpart in the games until now. Smith has scored 421 runs in this IPL and is the tournament's fifth highest run getter.
Sharma, on the other hand, reached the 300 run mark last night with his struggles against the leg spinners being well documented. Smith will be the confident man going into tomorrow's game while Sharma will be hoping to come good on the biggest stage.