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Shakib’s Kolkata never lost in the IPL final

IPL 2021 is about to reach its end. Three-time champion Chennai Super Kings and two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders will face each other in the final of the 14th season to be held today. In this match both the teams will be seen trying hard for the title. The match will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium from 7:30 PM.

Chennai team finished second in the points table after winning nine out of 14 matches in the league round. During the playoffs, Chennai defeated Delhi in Qualifier-1 to directly qualify for the final. At the same time, Kolkata’s team finished fourth in the league round by winning seven matches out of 14. During the playoffs, this team performed brilliantly, first defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator, then defeating Delhi Capitals in Qualifier-2 to reach the final. In such a situation, the morale of the KKR team will be very high.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s astute captaincy in canary yellow will be Chennai Super Kings’ biggest weapon against a clinical Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), whose troika of top-notch spinners promise to hold the aces in the high-octane Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 final .

Shakib's Kolkata never lost in the IPL final

If numbers are anything to go by, then CSK, in their astonishing ninth final appearance in 12 editions (they were suspended in two), are certain to start favourites against Kolkata Knight Riders on ‘Dussera’ day but in terms of trophies, there isn’t much of a difference.

CSK have three titles with five final defeats while KKR have won both their finals under the mercurial Gautam Gambhir. No team has mastered the art of reaching finals like Dhoni’s CSK. But KKR will definitely be in the hunt since they won one of the most exciting high-scoring summit clash back in 2012 where they chased a target of 190 with two balls to spare.

On Friday, CSK’s chances of winning a fourth title will depend on how well they handle the 12 overs from KKR’s spin trio of Varun Chakravarthy (economy rate 6.40), Shakib Al Hasan (ER:6.64) and Sunil Narine (ER:6.44), who have been outstanding in this tournament.

In fact, Shakib’s all-round abilities have provided more balance to KKR during the business end once Andre Russell sustained a hamstring injury.

However, the final match comes with its own set of pressures and how these three perform when put under the pump will be the key against a team of battle-hardened ‘been there done that’ professionals. Dhoni’s captaincy mantra is simple – rely on experience as IPL is not a finishing school or place to groom youngsters how talented they may be.

The Knight Riders, on the other hand, also have a captain who has won a World Cup and has been at the heart of the England team’s transformation as white-ball captain. Many believe that Russell the batter should replace Morgan, who has had an awful IPL with the willow.

Chennai, who lost to Kolkata in the final in 2012, are far ahead in terms of match-winning figures. They have won each of the two shows this year. In the last five encounters, Kolkata has won the match only once.

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