The final game of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans was washed out on Sunday. The game was scheduled to take place on May 28, but the rain played spoilsport. Thus, the final went into reserve day on Monday.
Though it is not the first time a knockout game has been shifted to the reserve day. As soon as the announcement was made by the officials, it gave some fans a “deja vu” moment of MS Dhoni‘s last international game. It was the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup against New Zealand when rain pushed the game to the reserve day. India lost the game, and Dhoni was not seen in the Indian kit after that.
Fans are hoping that this should not be the case now because the rumors of Dhoni retiring from the IPL have sparked after he himself indicated that this is his last phase. However, apart from the game going into reserve day, there are also some players who were part of that semi-final game and also in the IPL 2023 final.
3. MS Dhoni
Who can forget the moment when Martin Guptil ran out MS Dhoni, which ended India’s hope of making it to the final? As a result, India got dismissed for 221, chasing the target of 240, and lost by 18 runs. Dhoni played an inning of 50 off 72 and was taking the team to victory. Meanwhile, he will be leading CSK in the final against GT and will look to win their fifth title.
2. Hardik Pandya
The Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is another player who was part of Dhoni’s last international game and will be playing in the IPL 2023 Final. He played a fighting knock of 32 off 62 and bowled a spell of 1/55. Hardik will be leading GT in the IPL 2023 final and will look to defend the title successfully against MS Dhoni and his men.
1. Ravindra Jadeja
Despite India losing the semi-final, one name that was taking India to victory was star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. He bowled an economical spell of 1/34 to help India restrict New Zealand to 239/8. Then, he came out to bat when India were 6/92 and played a blinder of 77 off 59. He also added a 116-run seventh wicket partnership with MS Dhoni in that game. However, he will once again look to make an impactful performance for CSK to help them win their fifth title.
