Royals and Titans bid for gold on Super Sunday

It is a final that for most RCB fans would be a difficult watch, but nonetheless, it’s two teams that over the course of the tournament have earned their spot. The top two teams of the league phase square off in the final with the first-timers, the Gujarat Titans, vying for the gold against the winners of the first-ever IPL Rajasthan Royals.

The Titans could have a significant psychological edge in this contest having won against the Royals in the first qualifier en route to the final. Add to that the expected full house in their own backyard at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad with a world-highest capacity of 132,000, and the Titans could easily run out the firm favorites.

On the flip side, if there is one man who on his own can switch the narrative on his team’s side, it’s Jos Buttler. It was his record-equalling fourth century of the season in Qualifier 2 that dashed RCB’s hopes of making it to the final. And yet again, the Englishman will be the key lynchpin at the top for the Royals. Add to that, the firepower the Royals’ bowling displayed with lesser-experienced names in Prasidh Krishna and Obed McCoy doing the bulk of the damage against RCB at this very venue, and we have the looks of a finely balanced see-saw battle.

It is the Royals against the Titans. Two relatively inexperienced Indian captains on the IPL stage up against each other in Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson. Will it be a second title for the Royals after a 14-year gap, or will the Titans do what their opponents did - run home with the gold in their first-ever season in the IPL?

Squads:

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal, Karun Nair, James Neesham, Rassie van der Dussen, Corbin Bosch, Navdeep Saini, KC Cariappa, Daryl Mitchell, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Dhruv Jurel, Shubham Garhwal

Gujarat Titans Squad: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Pradeep Sangwan, Varun Aaron, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Abhinav Manohar, Lockie Ferguson, Darshan Nalkande, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Dominic Drakes, Sai Sudharsan, Noor Ahmad

Match details:

Date: May 29, 2022, 

Time: 8:00 PM IST

Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad