Virat Kohli’s nearly two-decade-long agonising wait to lay hands on an IPL Trophy will be up against Shreyas Iyer's resolve to make first-time winners out of the tenacious Punjab Kings when the 18th season finale of the world’s biggest T20 league unfolds on Tuesday.
The summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium could witness thousands of fans donning jersey No. 18 to support Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Kohli, who is in an IPL final for the fourth time overall. The sentiments of the fans would indeed run high, given that it would be Kohli's last appearance on the cricket field for a while, having recently retired from Test cricket and India’s next ODI assignment a few months away.
Parting ways with issues that plagued their previous campaigns, RCB have been clinical all the way through, coming into the final with an eight-wicket hammering of Punjab in a one-sided Qualifier 1. Kohli (614 runs) has gone about his business like every other year, piling up runs at the top and continuing to lay platforms, but there’s a lot more substance to RCB’s batting beyond the superstar. Kohli has not been the only one to carry the focus and attention this year. Rather, he has quietly gone about his business in fortifying for RCB.
Phil Salt is a perfect foil for the Indian superstar who goes all-out in his attack, while Mayank Agarwal, skipper Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma are the trusted lieutenants of that batting line-up. Since he has missed RCB’s last two games, it remains to be seen if Tim David is fit for this contest as he forms a vital death-over batting pair with another burly hitter in Romario Shepherd. Like Kohli in their batting, the calm and composed Josh Hazlewood (21 wickets) has been at the helm of RCB’s rise, and the fourth highest wicket-taker would want to add more to move up the ladder in one last game.
On their part, stung by that crushing defeat in their homeground at Mullanpur, Iyer’s Kings showed no scars from that defeat as they knocked out five-time winners Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 to reach their first final after 11 years. It’s only fitting that PBKS and RCB, who finished at the top two positions, respectively, after a gruelling 70-match league round, have a crack at the trophy which has eluded them from the time the competition began.
Perennial finishers in the second half of the 10-team points table, Punjab Kings have staged a sensational turnaround with two dogged personalities in captain Iyer and coach Ricky Ponting at the helm. For Iyer (603 runs), a second consecutive appearance in an IPL final after winning it last year with Kolkata Knight Riders speaks volumes about his capabilities as a leader who marshals his troops as good as any other in the format. Iyer’s perseverance is not the only quality that stands out for the 30-year-old Punjab captain, but also the fact that he remains as hungry to win this IPL as he was when he began the journey with the franchise a few months ago.
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