IPL Final battle of equals, promises to be a humdinger

Royal Challengers Bangalore had a chance to swing Friday night’s match against Rajasthan Royals in their favour.

Harshal Patel, mixing his pace adroitly, deceived Jos Buttler into rare indiscretion, the ball taking the edge of the bat and going to Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps. To his own and his team’s horror, Karthik dropped the dolly and RCB’s moment had come and gone.

Buttler was then on 61. After the reprieve he regained composure and control to complete his fourth century of the season and take his team into the final.

RCB had taken the field for the qualifier as joint favourites after the sterling victory over Lucknow Super Giants a couple of days earlier. But against a recharged Rajasthan they were found wanting right from the start.

It is bitter irony that Karthik should be the man to have made the huge blunder in such an important game. Throughout the season, the diminutive wicket-keeper-batsman had given RCB a lifeline in every crisis, with smart work behind the wickets, and even more by his aggressive, unfettered batting. His fantastic finishing prowess in fact earned him a recall to the India T20 squad.

But looking back over the season, RCB’s woes actually stemmed from the failures of star players Virat Kohli and Mohamed Siraj. Both had been retained by the franchise along with Glen Maxwell in the hope of building a strong playing XI around them. While Maxwell didn’t have as much success as in the previous season, Kohli and Siraj were outright failures.

Kohli has a dazzling record in the IPL – as indeed he does in all formats in international cricket too. But this was an eminently forgettable season for him.

In 16 matches, Kohli scored a paltry 341 runs at a dismal strike rate of 115.98: hardly the stats that bespeak a master batsman. For over a decade, season after season, Kohli lit up the IPL with his virtuosity, but this year he flopped badly, which in turn made RCB’s batting highly vulnerable. He seemed to have hit some kind of form approaching the end of the league stage and, but this proved to be a mirage in the qualifier against Rajasthan.

Mohamed Siraj, who made such a huge impact at the international level in the past 18 months, and with a fine IPL record also in past 2-3 tournaments, came a cropper too. In 15 matches, he took just 9 wickets. Worse, his economy rate was 10.07. Such He was expensive at the start of an innings, and at the end, and failed to take wickets in either situation. Such profligacy cost RCB heavily.

None of this, however, takes anything away from the brilliant performance of Rajasthan Royals in Friday’s match. Prasidh Krishna’s opening spell rocked RCB, and Ashwin’s tight control in the middle overs didn’t allow them freedom to score freely even when strongly placed with Rajat Patidar playing another fine knock. Obed McCoy then came up with fantastic bowling in the slog overs. Restricted to 157, RCB’s best hope was in getting 2-3 wickets in the Powerplay. That didn’t happen as Buttler and Jaiswal provided a cracking start to the innings. Karthik dropping Buttler was the last nail in the coffin, Where RCB had many blunders to rue, Rajasthan’s performance was near flawless. Gujarat Titans may have won the first qualifier, but they face an inspired Rajasthan side in the final.

Based on performances so far this season, how do the two teams stack up?

The Titans have traced a remarkable journey this year, belying the fact that they were a new team in the league. They topped the league stage on points and have lost only four matches which reflects how well they’ve played. Not many were convinced that the team would do well when IPL15 started. While the collection of talent looked good, other teams were as strong if not more. Getting Rashid Khan was a coup, but was this good enough to take them into the play-offs?

Hardik Pandya being made captain was another aspect which provoked wide skepticism. The choice seemed to be on parochial rather than cricket logic.

But in the eight weeks since the tournament began, all such compunctions were proved unfounded. Everything started falling into place almost automatically. Gujarat began well, got better, and in spite of a blip or two, have reached the final in emphatic fashion.

In some cases, the derring-do and self-belief of players like Tewatia, Miller and Rashid turned the match on its head from impossible situations.

It was not just exhilarating batting that helped Titans reach where they are now, but also the bowling. Not much need be said of Rashid who is a maestro, but Shami was exceptional too, getting wickets unfailingly in the Powerplays.

What stood out for Gujarat was that the team wasn’t entirely dependent on the big stars. For instance, When Wade got injured, Wriddhiman Saha stepped in as a dashing opener, and made enough runs to compensate for Shubman Gill’s modest scores.

The biggest influence was undoubtedly Hardik Pandya, as all-rounder and even more as captain. He led from the front, held the team together, and inspired players to give off their best.

Rajasthan Royals credentials are not far behind Gujarat’s. From the start, first they looked a well-balanced, well-rounded team – and often perhaps the best of the 10 teams.

In the inaugural IPL season in 2008, under the charismatic captaincy of the late Shane Warne, Rajasthan with a bunch of rookies pulled off a stunning upset to win the title.

In the 14 seasons since, however, they flattered to deceive, playing attractive cricket at all times, but never quite looking a champion side despite paying top dollar to get marquee players.

While Rajasthan’s credo was to play with flair and an adventurous approach, they also frequently lapsed into self-indulgence which led to inconsistent results and early exits

But, in IPL15, Rajasthan have shown a different approach. The ambition this time is not just to entertain, but also win matches. Also, the tournament if possible.

Like the Titans, Rajasthan too reaped the benefits of strategic selection in the mega auction. Those retained from the previous season were Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Yashaswi Jaiswal. All have contributed marvelously this year. To this exciting batting trio were added players of proven calibre like Ravi Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Prasidha Krishna. This gave the team not just a truly international flavour, but experience to complement youth, variety and depth in both batting.

The two most talented and exciting teams this year square off for the title tonight. Such is the depth of talent in both, and so similar have they been in flavor and performances that only a very brave – or foolish — person would venture a winner!

I’ll take my seat on the fence and say fasten your seat belts for a humdinger!