REVIVING OLD RIVALRY

The league stages lasted a lifetime – we've had Russell-mania throughout, some Warner carnage and a few vintage MS Dhoni finishes through the course of this rather lengthy tournament. As we head towards the culmination of India's flagship T20 tournament, the El Classico of Indian cricket awaits tonight.

On Tuesday, Mumbai Indians (MI) became the first team to enter the finals after beating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) comprehensibly by six wickets in the first qualifier. CSK, on the other hand, pulled the curtains on a young Delhi team's dream run in the second qualifier and would now be eager to change their fortunes against MI later tonight. Fittingly, the tournament will end with the two top league teams locking horns for the ultimate prize.

This is the fourth time these two teams would be meeting in an IPL final, but statistics seem to favour Rohit Sharma's side. Except for the loss in the 2010 edition, MI have had the better of Dhoni's team in the 2013 and 2015 edition of IPL. Moreover, in this edition, MI has defeated CSK on all three instances that they have clashed – two league matches and one qualifier.

Despite the numbers favouring Mumbai, Dhoni knows this stage better than anyone else. This is the ninth time Dhoni will be leading his team into an IPL final (one time with Rising Pune Supergiants), and CSK's eight final appearances in 10 attempts. CSK's record in IPL finals is one of the rare statistics where they find themselves in a slightly disadvantageous position – in the seven finals, they have emerged winners thrice (2010, 2011 and 2018) while ending as runners-up on four instances.

For Mumbai Indians, the only concern has been Rohit Sharma's inconsistent run at the top. On the big night, he would be expected to provide them a blistering start alongside in-form Quinton de Kock. Suryakumar Yadav has been in sublime touch off late. He might have not featured on the top-five run-scorer list, but apart from a couple of match-winning knocks he has been quietly scoring 20s and 30s at a brisk pace. The Pandya brothers form an integral part of the team and they too have been in prolific touch both with the bat and ball. They have combined to score 562 runs at a devastating strike rate of 160 and have scalped 25 wickets. Even with a top-order failure, MI has enough gas to pull them out from any given situation. Initially, Pollard was regarded as the only burden for the Mumbai team, but his match-winning knock (83 off 31) against Punjab reminded everyone of how destructive he can be.

The bowling looks well-settled too for Mumbai Indians. Malinga seems to have found his long-lost rhythm and is back to his wicket-taking habits. Rahul Chahar has been the pick of the season for MI – the 19-year-old has accounted for 12 wickets at an economy rate of 6.83. The leader of the pack, Jasprit Bumrah, has accounted for 17 wickets so far. Alongside Hardik and Krunal Pandya, Mumbai would also be tempted to go with Jayant Yadav or Mitchell McClenaghan as the sixth bowling option, depending on the condition of the pitch.

Initially, CSK was mocked for coming into the tournament with most players having turned 30; injuries at the start of the season added further salt to their wound. They did manage to leave behind the age factor, but inconsistency towards the business end of the tournament has left many heads scratching. Watson's extended run at the top did bear fruit eventually when he scored a half-century against Delhi Capitals in the eliminator. The middle-order comprising Raina, Rayudu, Dhoni and Bravo has been delivering in patches.

Following a six-wicket loss in the IPL 2019 eliminator at MA Chidambaram Stadium against their arch-rivals, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming conceded that the yellow brigade hasn't been up to the mark during the powerplay overs. He said, "Yeah, it [pacing the innings] is tough. There's the problem we're finding – we're so far behind in the powerplays. We're doing things right from overs 6 to 20, the run rate today I think was 7 and [then] 10 [in the last six overs]. We're getting the right runs there, [but] we are just finding ourselves behind in the powerplays." Overall, CSK averaged 37 runs in the first 36 overs throughout the ongoing season while managing to go past 50-run mark on two instances.

Nevertheless, the bowling department of the yellow brigade has been exceptional with Tahir (24), D Chahar (19), Harbhajan (16), Jadeja (15) and Bravo (11) leaving the opposition bamboozled on most instances. "I think the credit needs to go to the spinners: the captain only asks them that I will use you at this point of time. When they get the ball, it's up to them. Experience counts, but they have to do the hard yards to stay fit for 45-50 days and be at their best and playing in hot conditions. We are happy we haven't had many injuries (other than the players at the start) and thanks to the bowling department for that – we are here because of them," said Dhoni after CSK's six-wicket win over the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Eliminator on Friday.

In the last game, they were able to resolve the issue by scoring 80 of their first 10 overs without losing a wicket. But, given the current form and balance in the line-up, Mumbai looks well-settled and would be looking to exploit the inconsistent Men in Yellow. Mumbai Indians is probably the only team to assert such dominance against Chennai in all seasons, and are the favourites to lift the trophy. Both these teams have been the most successful IPL franchises having won the tournament three times apiece. Undoubtedly Mumbai will be the favourites going into the finals, but ruling out Dhoni's men isn't a choice either – a mouth-watering clash awaits!