Follow UsWe started with 10 but we’re now down to 2. The finalists of IPL 2022 have been locked in, and it’s the Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans who will be taking on Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The IPL 2022 final is expected to be a special occasion, for Ahmedabad is set to oversee 132,000 spectators witness the final live. No team is a clear-cut favorite heading into Sunday’s clash, but what’s to be noted is that these two sides have met twice in IPL 2022, in which the Titans emerged victorious on both occasions. A cracker of a contest awaits us!
Ground Details
Sunday’s final between Gujarat and Rajasthan will be just the second game at the Narendra Modi Stadium this season. The first one, of course, was the qualifier between Rajasthan and Bangalore, in which the Royals came out on top.
Qualifier 2 saw the team chasing get home comfortably, and what was evident in that encounter was the amount of help the wicket offered to the pacers. There was good bounce and great carry, and, on the night, the Royals seamers made the most out of it. In fact, in Qualifier 2, 9 of the 11 wickets fell to the pacers. There was not too much delight for the spinners, who on the night registered combined figures of 2/154 off 17 overs.
Just how the wicket will play come Sunday remains unknown, but what can be said with assurance is that we’ll be witnessing a very good contest between bat and ball.
Team Selection
Captain Selection
As easy a task there is out there. Jos Buttler, and we suspect it doesn’t need an explanation. 824 runs in the season, a hundred in the last encounter and an 89 in the last H2H encounter versus the Titans. At this point, it’d be insane to not make him captain.
Our Criclytics Player Projection predicts Buttler to score 44-66 runs vs GT in the Final
X-factors
Rashid Khan has been in sizzling form, and his remarkable spell of 0/15 in Qualifier 1 was perhaps the single biggest reason why the Titans trumped the Royals. He’s taken 9 wickets in his last 5 matches, and looks set for a fine outing come the final, with him currently in as good a rhythm as he’s been all season. He’s certainly an x-factor to watch out for.
Our Criclytics Player Projection predicts Rashid to take 1-2 wickets in the final vs RR
Obed McCoy’s performances have slipped under the radar, big time, since his reintegration back into the RR side. Across the last four matches, the left-armer has taken 8 wickets at a sound economy of 7.4. That he bowls exclusively outside the powerplay makes his haul even more impressive, and in the Qualifier 2 against RCB, the West Indian finished with figures of 3/23. In the form he’s in, McCoy is undoubtedly someone worth taking a punt on.
Our Criclytics Player Projection predicts McCoy to take 1-2 wickets in the final vs GT
David Miller is averaging an astonishing 64.14 this season, and the southpaw has arguably been batting as well as he ever has. He’s taken the Titans over the line on numerous occasions this season, and it was his 68* in Qualifier 1 that propelled GT into the final. The way Miller has been batting, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he goes big one more time and delivers the title for the Titans.
Our Criclytics Player Projection predicts Miller to score 26-40 runs in the final vs RR
Probable XIs
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCoy
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami