Two of the three teams who entered the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in their debut season will play against each other in the final frontier of the edition. Rajasthan Royals (RR) will square off with the new entrants Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday, May 29 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad at 8 PM IST.
Gujarat Titans finished the league stage at the top of the table, became the first team to qualify for the playoffs and also the first franchise to book a berth in the IPL 2022 final. The Hardik Pandya-led team, which is coached by Ashish Nehra had an outstanding outing throughout the season. GT are undoubtedly going to be the favourites to win the final as the highly anticipated fixture of the season will be played in Ahmedabad. The batting line-up of the team, which consists majorly of pinch hitters, has been in an astounding form. David Miller who finished the chase single-handedly in Qualifier 1 could be the game-changer for the team in the final as well. The spin wizard from Afghanistan, Rashid Khan, would aim to fox the opponents’ batsmen for the one last time in the season.
On the other hand, the inaugural champions of the competition confirmed their spot in the final after beating Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Qualifier 2. Rajasthan Royals’ man-in-form, Jos Butler continued to roar as he decimated the opponents with his scintillating batting after he smashed his fourth century of the season. The youngster Prasidh Krishna also displayed a top-quality performance. RR will be qualifying for the finals for the second time after 2008. The young skipper Sanju Samson and his team will be playing against a hostile crowd as the Rajasthan franchise’s fans will be outnumbered by the home team’s followers.
Head-to-head:
Gujarat have the upper hand in the head-to-head competition as they beat Rajasthan earlier this season twice.
GT and RR locked horns in Qualifier 1 of the season, where the former won the last over thriller by seven wickets.
Principal Sponsors:
GT: Ather Energy
TV and LIVE streaming details:
TV – Star Sports Network
OTT – Disney+ Hotstar