The Rajasthan Royals will face the Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2022 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday.
RR reach the final after beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Qualifier 2. They finished second on the points table with nine wins and five losses. Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat defeated the Pink Army in the first Qualifier.
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Rajasthan have reached the final of the season after 14 years. The last time they did, in 2008, late Shane Warne was the captain who led a young team to the title. A win on Sunday would be a memorable tribute to the Aussie legend, dubbed as the first Royal, who died earlier this year.
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What has worked for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022:
The big Jos Buttler factor:
Jos Buttler has owned the 2022 season. The Englishman has already scored 824 runs in 16 games at an average of 58.86 and strike rate of 151.47. The 31-year-old has smashed four centuries and is one short of breaking Virat Kohli’s record (four tons in 2016). He is only 24 runs short of crossing David Warner’s 848 runs from 2016, the second-highest season tally in IPL.
Buttler comes to the final after scoring 89 runs in the first Qualifier against the Gujarat Titans and then smashing a match-winning 106 vs RCB in Qualifier 2.
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Balanced bowling:
Not a single one of Rajasthan Royals’ bowlers from last season is currently in action. The 2008 champions renewed their attack at the IPL 2022 mega-auction.
A Trent Boult comes from Mumbai Indians, Yuzi Chahal represented the Royal Challengers Bangalore last year, Prasidh Krishna played for Kolkata Knight Riders, Ravi Ashwin for Delhi Capitals. Obed McCoy made his IPL debut this year.
After assembling some of the most impactful bowlers, RR made sure they compliment each other. When Ashwin is building pressure at one end, Chahal gets the wickets on the other. Boult has been firing in the powerplay and when the top bowlers failed vs RCB, Prasidh Krishna and McCoy stepped up.
In a nutshell- Rajasthan Royals have one of the most balanced bowling attacks this season.
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Yuzvendra Chahal’s leg-spin:
Chahal is a big name in any squad. The leg-spinner was not retained by the Royal Challengers Bangalore after serving the side for several seasons. He is RCB’s leading wicket-taker in the IPL. The 31-year-old was picked by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs 6.50 crore in the auction.
He led the purple cap charts for most of the season and needs one more wicket to finish his season on top. Yuzi Chahal has picked 26 wickets this season, including a fifer, hattrick and four-fer, in 16 games at 19.50 and economy rate of 7.92 rpo.
