The much-awaited final of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 28 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. After winning Qualifier 1 against the defending champion Gujarat Titans, the four-time champion Chennai Super Kings qualified for their 10th IPL final in history. MS Dhoni and his men won Qualifier 1 by 15 runs. Now, they are waiting for the winner of Qualifier 2 between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans on Friday.
The winner of the game will face CSK on Sunday in the final. Notably, this is the 10th IPL final for Chennai, and they have won four of them so far. CSK played the first final in the inaugural season in 2008. However, since then, a lot of players have come and gone, but interestingly, there are two players who will feature in the final of the 2023 IPL who also played in the 2008 final.
1. MS Dhoni
The final of the IPL 2008 was played between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings at DY Patil Stadium on June 1, 2008. Shane Warne led RR, and MS Dhoni captained CSK. Chasing the target of 164, RR won by three wickets in hand. Even after 15 years, Dhoni will again lead CSK into yet another IPL final. He is one of those two players who featured in the final of the inaugural season and is still playing in the IPL final of the 16th edition. MSD played a cameo of 29 not out from 17 balls in 2008.
2. Ravindra Jadeja
Star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is the second player apart from Dhoni, who played in the IPL 2008 final. However, he will be part of the CSK squad, but in 2008, he played for the Rajasthan Royals under Shane Warne, and that started his actual cricketing journey. Jadeja will be keen to deliver a match-winning performance to help CSK win their fifth IPL title and equal MI.