It’s the FINAL! Since the IPL began around one and a half months ago, it has been building up to this day. We will have the final in the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, between the two most successful IPL sides in history – Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings.
There is much to admire about both sides, as they are packed with some of the greatest stars in IPL history. CSK has captain MS Dhoni, perhaps the most successful IPL player of all, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and yes, the 39-year olf Mike Hussey – all star IPL performers, who have been involved with the IPL since the tournament began, so many years ago.
Mumbai Indians are not far behind. They have Harbhajan Singh, whose contribution is often unheralded, Rohit Sharma, perhaps the most consistent performer the IPL has ever seen, the impressive Lendl Simmons and the best bowler in IPL history, the aging dynamo, Lasith Malinga.
The rivalry between CSK and Mumbai Indians is also the fiercest one in IPL. Both teams have a history with each other and are owned by two of the richest and most powerful men in India. Mumbai Indians are owned by Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of India’s biggest company, while CSK are owned by N.Srinivasan, the head of the BCCI.
The future of CSK has been under the cloud for a long time because of the match fixing charges against Mr. Srinivasan’s son-in-law, but it seems everybody has forgotten them now, especially with Dhoni’s men doing so well in this tournament.
In the Semi-Final, Mumbai Indians were able to beat CSK quite comfortably. But it is to be seen if they are going to be as effective as we enter the final. CSK has a history of being involved in IPL finals – this is their 6th final, and they have already won the tournament twice.
CSK has the same team they have always had, and made additions such as the veteran medium pacer Ashish Nehra, who has been a star performer with the ball, winning the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore for them. Nehra’s rise from complete cricketing irrelevance to being the best bowler in this season’s IPL has been a revelation.
CSK have another aging star, Australia’s ‘Mr. Cricket,’ the 39-year old Mike Hussey. No one can underestimate the great man – despite being out of international cricket for a while now, Hussey led his team to a win against RCB with an outstanding 56 off 47 ball, when he took on the fast and furious young gun Mitchell Starc and won.
Mumbai Indians have a strong opening partnership in Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons, followed by mostly young Indian batsmen led by Rohit Sharma, with West Indian Kieran Pollard providing the power hitting in the lower middle order. They have arguably a better bowling attack than CSK, but CSK have greater batting depth.
This promises to be a fantastic content – a match-up between equals. It’s hard to pick out a winner, but if we were to hazard a guess, Mumbai Indians have a much better current record against CSK and are in red hot form. It would take some doing for Dhoni and company to beat the Mumbai team. So, we are betting on Mumbai Indians to beat CSK and become the champions of IPL 2015.
Watch Mumbai Indians take on Chennai Super Kings in the Final of IPL 2015 at 8:00 on Sunday live on Sony Six! May the best team win!
