Daijiworld Media Network - Sports

Kolkata, May 24: 56 league matches, a qualifier between the top two teams, an eliminator between the third and the fourth team and another qualifier between the winner of Match 58 v the loser of Match 57. At the end of it all, we have the two finalists. It's Mumbai Indians against the Chennai Super Kings in the final of the 8th edition of the Indian Premier League. Kolkata's famed Eden Gardens is the venue of what should be another cracking contest between the two most consistent teams in the history of the tournament. Domestic T20 cricket can't get better than this. It's CSK's consistency up against MI's flair. It should be a fascinating contest to draw the curtains on what has been a tremendous season.

Chennai Super Kings have won the toss and opted to field.

MS Dhoni: 'It was good to play at home (against RCB in qualifier 2). We want to keep playing games, we had a good recovery yesterday. We didn't practice a lot, we have played a lot of cricket for the last two months. It is just a one-off game in the final, whoever performs better will become the champions. We will bowl first. The wicket look slightly sticky, but I don't think it will have a major impact. We have made no changes.'

Rohit Sharma: 'Ready to go. We had a very good preparation, it's pretty humid and we got a couple of days to prepare. It's a good hunting ground for me, but I want to do the best for my team. We won in 2013, it gives me another opportunity today. We would have batted first anyway. It's a big game and we would like to put the runs on the board firstup. We are playing the same team.'

Teams:

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Lendl Simmons, Parthiv Patel(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Jagadeesha Suchith, Vinay Kumar, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Dwayne Smith, Michael Hussey, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Pawan Negi, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra

Weather: Humid with a ten percent chance of rain around 9 PM.

Head-to-Head record: In terms of competition, there's nothing much to choose between the two teams. They have faced off 21 times with MI holding a 11-10 winning record. This is the third time that the two teams will face each other in an IPL final. CSK won in 2010 while MI returned the favour in 2013.

Preview:

As the dust settles on another frenetic season of Indian Premier League (IPL), the usual suspects - Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians - remain the last teams standing. Statistically, the two most successful sides (most number of matches won) in the tournament history, CSK and MI have pushed boundaries and unravelled newer dimensions of the T20 format with each passing encounter. The next chapter of this rivalry features a battle for the coveted IPL trophy, something these two sides have fought for twice before.

58 matches and 43 days after after the tournament opener, Mumbai Indians return to the grandest stage of Indian Cricket at the Eden Gardens, hoping to complete their remarkable turnaround - a run that has seen them upset the odds and become the first team to qualify for the final despite suffering losses in each of their first four games, including the opener in Kolkata.

Chennai Super Kings meanwhile, like only then can do, sauntered through the group stages and despite not being at their best, have found ways to win the matches that matter. Remarkably, they now find themselves in their sixth final in the tournament's eight-year history. However, since their win in 2011, they have lost two subsequent finals, including one against Mumbai Indians in 2013, and would dearly want to put one past their arch-rivals en route their third title.

We have had 59 matches so far. So what has been the highlight of the tournament? Is it Umesh Yadav's magic over where he knocked over David Warner and Naman Ojha? Is it AB's 133* against Mumbai Indians, the highest score in this season's IPL, is it the brilliance of Dwayne Bravo and his CSK fielders? Is it the coolness of captain Dhoni or did Kohli surprise one and all with his maturity? It has been a quality tournament. India's youngsters have come to the fore. Shreyas Iyer has become a household name, Yuzvendra Chahal continued to be the most impressive of the bowling lot while the likes of Hardik Pandya and Sarfaraz Khan took baby steps towards greatness. It was not a youngsters dominated tournament though. Veterans Ashish Nehra and Brad Hogg turned the clock back with some stellar shows.

While CSK have been the Mr. Consistent of IPL, Mumbai Indians are fast turning out to be the ideal challengers. This will be their third shot at the title and they would love to go home with their second title. Unlike their opponents tonight, MI took the tough route to the final. After six matches, they had a solitary win and five losses. MI were almost down and out, not many counted them to be amongst the top four at the end of the season. The revival began with the entry of West Indian opener, Lendl Simmons, and MI haven't looked back since then. They went on to win 8 out of their next 9 matches to become the first team to book a slot in the final. Rohit Sharma has a thing or two for Eden Gardens. He has his Test best on this ground, his 264 against Sri Lanka, the best ever score by a batsman in ODIs, came at this venue. His success in the 2013 IPL, the only time MI has won the title - also came here. Co-incidentally, his opponents were CSK, led by MS Dhoni. Can MI sustain their red-hot form?

Consistency is the other name for Chennai Super Kings. They breezed through the league stages and deservingly earned the right to have a second shot at the final - after losing to Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier. What has been their recipe for success as they reach their sixth final in eight editions of the tournament? Some say it's all about player loyalty, CSK is one team that has made efforts to retain their core, right from the first season. Others are not that charitable - afterall it's an all-international team - with the Indian youngsters only watching all the action from the sidelines. Skipper, MS Dhoni, was blunt in accepting the fact that his team hasn't given chances to some of the bench players, but believes that they can learn a lot from simply watching the masters in action. They haven't won this tournament since 2011, but can Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his boys change the script tonight?

Before going any further, let's have a recap of what has been an exciting tournament. It all began on April 8th with Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Mumbai Indians at this very venue. There have been runs, with as many as four players (Warner, Rahane, AB and Kohli) going past the 500-run mark. It's not that the bowlers have found it tough either. Five of them (Bravo, Chahal, Nehra, Malinga and Starc) hit the 20-wicket mark. There have been some remarkable catches, some stunning ground fielding - as well as some desperately poor stuff. It has been a tournament that has satisfied the purists as well as delighted the T20 enthusiasts. All in all, it has been one memorable competition - bringing the best out of every teams.

Team News:

Mumbai Indians

A bulk of MI's success in the second half of the tournament has been due to their opening combination in both bowling and batting. Lendl Simmons, Parthiv Patel, Mitchell McClenaghan and Lasith Malinga have been at the heart of their revival and with key contributions coming in from all quarters, the team management will not want to tinker with their playing eleven. Besides, by winning their first qualifier, MI have given themselves two extra days of rest to tend to niggles or fatigue of any kind.

Chennai Super Kings

Not known to chop and change their team composition even during the league stages, CSK are unlikely to make any 11th-hour changes despite facing a quick turnaround from their last game. MS Dhoni is comfortable playing three frontline spinners in R Ashwin, Pawan Negi and Ravindra Jadeja. However, reports suggest that the pitch to be used for the final will not be the spin haven KKR enjoy playing on, and MS Dhoni might contemplate bringing in Ishwar Pandey for one of the two left-armers.