Image Credit- BCCI
The Gujarat Titans from the beginning of the season are currently the Chennai Super Kings. Their pace attack, which has been essential to their quest for a postseason spot, has all but vanished. Because of the outstanding work done by Matheesha Pathirana, Mustafizur Rahman, and to a lesser extent Deepak Chahar, the CSK quicks had the best economy rate in the middle overs (8) and the second-best at the death (10.43) in the 2024 Indian Premier League.
Just as much of their reliance was placed on GT’s bowler. Shami Mohammed. However, he has been out recovering from surgery following an ankle injury. During his absence, the group has considered a number of ideas. Salutations to Allah Omarzai. Johnson Spencer. Josh Klein. However, nothing has been successful. Particularly those with slingy motions, exceptional new-ball skills, or difficult-to-pick variations, fast bowlers make a distinctive impression. And dealing with their disappearance might be challenging.
Really, GT hasn’t been able to. Their tournament will be over if they lose on Friday. CSK must prevail. Since the championship game is being played on the same pitch where a player once declared he intended to terminate his career, they have a stronger chance of winning it. Would that not be lyrical?
The 2023 final rematch ended in victory for CSK back in March—a long time ago, doesn’t it?—thanks to a brilliant half-century from Shivam Dube and their quick bowlers’ refusal to allow GT identify a hero like they used to. 206 for 6 easily defeated 143 for 8.
Up till IPL 2022, Rashid Khan’s overall IPL economy was at 6.3 runs per over. However, he has been averaging 8.2 runs per over since last year. His move to a different home base has contributed to some of this, while the impact player rule has made clubs more willing to take chances against him. In addition, he has had to bowl far more frequently than usual during the powerplay. And he had just recovered from back surgery going into this season. When the cards are piled so high, even the greatest fail, but you know what else the greats do? They bounce back and retaliate.