After conclusion of 56 group matches, Qualifiers and Eliminator, the ninth edition of Indian Premier Leage (IPL) 2016 finale is just few hours away. After the hustle and bustle for over month and a half, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have made the cut to the final spot. The usual excitement and frolic that fills around IPL seem to have faded in this edition, thanks to overdose of T20 cricket. Despite losing its charm, IPL 9 managed to catch attention of its fans around the world towards the business end, thanks to Virat Kohli’s ‘Superhuman’ efforts and friendly banters that usually spice up IPL. Here is the topsy-turvey journey of this year’s IPL razzmatazz: Full Cricket Scorecard: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2016 Final
Teams:
Gujarat Lions: GL is one of the two newcomers in this edition of IPL. Led under the young Suresh Raina, GL managed to reach the Playoffs for their all-round performance. But luck did not favour them long, and despite all efforts, they could not reach the final spot.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: RCB are at the second spot and how! Kohli’s heroics have helped the team to be the second finalists in IPL with efforts from AB de Villiers aka ‘Mr. 360’, Chris Gayle aka ‘Universe Boss’, and all-rounders like Shane Watson and Iqbal Abdulla.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Another team that impressed everyone with their all-round performance is SRH. After David Warner’s consistent show, Yuvraj Singh’s special cameos and fiery bowling by pace duo of Mustafizur Rahman and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, SRH deserved all the accolades to enter their first ever final spot.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Two-time IPL title holders were aiming for the third one, until SRH decided to crash their hopes. However, they failed to create impression this time and were knocked out in the Eliminator.
Mumbai Indians: The defending champions failed to live up to their title, although MI did show glimpses to enter the Playoffs. Their inconsistency led to their ouster within the group matches.
Delhi Daredevils: The Zaheer Khan-led DD were yet another deserving team to reach the Playoffs, but the all the expectations built around them were just not enough to help them sail through the penultimate stage, despite mentorship by Team India legend Rahul Dravid.
Rising Pune Supergiants: The most unfortunate team this season. Not only did they lose out on their crucial players but also all the possibility to stay in the league. Although, MS Dhoni and co. would have been happy to end their campaign on a positive note.
Kings XI Punjab: The team is glued to the bottom of the table for past two editions; and despite change of skipper from David Miller to Murali Vijay, the team were unable to go ahead in the table.
IPL 2016 Banters:
IPL and banters and controversies go hand-in-hand, this edition was no different to these. Let’s glance through few of these that were hard to be missed out:
– Remember the MS Dhoni and Irfan Pathan mix-up? The incident took place during one of the league matches between RPS and KKR. Of course, it was a much hyped issue, raising fingers on Dhoni and Pathan simultaneously. The commentators had their share of opinion while others had their fan-based opinions. Ultimately, critics were forced to shut when Irfan Pathan played the final league match. ALSO READ: IPL took down this MS Dhoni-Irfan Pathan video from their website and YouTube channel!
– Preity Zinta made rounds during IPL for remarks on sacking Sanjay Bangar as franchise head coach after KXIP’s one-run loss to RCB. Soon, Bangar opened about his spat with Priety shooing away all the rumors clarifying it was a usual post-match discussion.
A perfect example of How Journalists LIE BLATANTLY & should be sued for DEFAMATION ! For the record I do have… https://t.co/GhN6eaxgif
– Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard are always in for friendly banters’ in every edition. This time was no different, when these Caribbean players were involved in on-field friendly clash.
– KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Chris Morris were involved in heated discussion on field. KL Rahul bludgeoned back-to-back boundaries off Morris, after which Morris gave a mouthful to the RCB batsman. Looking at these two cricketers indulge in a war of words, captain fearless—Kohli—couldn’t hold himself back and involved in the dispute as well.
– Glenn Maxwell – side strain; replacement – Farhaan Behardien
May the best team win:
The final match is being held at RCB’s fortress M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. It is expected to be a run-fest as both the teams have top scorers on their side: Virat Kohli and David Warner. Apart from them, it is also the bowling unit of SRH to be fearful of, be it Mustafizur Rahman, Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Barinder Sran. On the hindsight, Shane Watson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Iqbal Abdulla and AB de Villiers can cause damage to opponent. Be prepared as a high-voltage game is on the cards.
(Shruti Hariharan is a Content Writer with CricketCountry. You can follow her on Twitter at @Shruti_2890)
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