IPL 2022 Final, Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals: Who will cross the final hurdle in Ahmedabad's spotlight?

The final 74th match of the Indian Premier League will see Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans locking horns to lift the trophy. Whosoever lifts it, it will be after a long time that IPL will see a new captain leading the team to be champion. This will be the first IPL without featuring any player who has captained Team India by then.

Rajasthan Royals lifted the trophy only once in the inaugural edition in 2008 under the captaincy of Australian legend Shane Warne. The route to finals has been quite long for them. After getting defeated by Gujarat Titans in qualifier 1, Jos Buttler's ton helped them get through the second opportunity in qualifier two against Bangalore to make it to the finals. They have a pool of talented players across all departments. They are unlikely to change their playing XI from the previous match.

On the other hand, Gujarat Titans have stamped its authority in their first season. They got better off Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1, making them reach straight to the finals. They have been table-toppers for most of the tournament and dominated the proceedings in the group stage. Hardik Pandya-led team had found their prominent playing XI way back in the group stage. While the team is expected to be the same, there might be a choice to be made by the skipper between Lockie Ferguson and Alzarri Joseph.

Players to watch out for

Batters: David Miller and Yashasvi Jaiswal

In qualifier one, David Miller was the critical Player for Gujarat and won the Player of the Match award for his score of 68 off 38 deliveries. He has made 449 runs at an average of 64.14 this season. Yashasvi Jaiswal reinvented his innings after a poor show in the first half. He has scored 236 runs in 9 matches with a strike rate of 132.58, including two half-centuries. His partnership with Buttler might hold the key to their win.

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin

Skipper Hardik has been the leading run-scorer for Gujarat, having made 453 runs in 14 matches. In the previous game, having bowled two overs, he could also pick one wicket. Ravichandran Ashwin has been one of the best all-rounders for RR. He has scored essential runs while promoted up the order and taken 12 wickets with an average of 39.25 in 16 matches. 

Bowlers: Prasidh Krishna and Rashid Khan

Prasidh Krishna will look to make a solid comeback after having a horrible time against GT in the first qualifier. He has picked 18 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 28.38. On the other hand, Rashid Khan has scalped 18 wickets in 15 games at 22.38. He has taken nine wickets in the last five matches and will hope to deliver a match-winning performance with his spins.

Stats to keep an eye on

• No batter below number 3 has scored more than David Miller's 449 runs this season. He struck them at 142.
• This season, Mohammed Shami's 11 wickets are the joint-most by a fast bowler in the powerplay. Gujarat Titans have won 11 out of the 12 games where he has picked up a wicket, and incidentally, the three losses have come when he has gone wicketless.
• Jos Buttler needs 25 runs to surpass David Warner's tally of 848 runs during Sunrisers Hyderabad's title-winning season in 2016. Virat Kohli's record of 973 runs in a season is likely to remain untouched. 
• Yuzvendra Chahal needs one more wicket to surpass Wanindu Hasaranga's tally of 26 to win back the purple cap.

Gujarat is well familiar with the strengths of the Royals as they sealed this spot by defeating them only. But can they do it again, for the trophy this time? Will Gujarat lift the trophy in their maiden season, or Rajasthan will be able to grab the hands-on it after 14 years? With little to no scope of errors on the field, it will be a riveting contest with everything on the line