RANCHI, India, IANS/CMC – Today’s all important qualifier between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings will bring together three West Indies Twenty20 heavyweights wrangling for a place in Sunday’s final of the cash-rich Indian Premier League.
For RCB, they will boast the talents of Chris Gayle while CSK will be powered in part by opener Dwayne Smith and exciting all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, the former One-Day International captain.
Current Windies T20 captain Darren Sammy is also on RCB’s roster but has featured in just two matches this season.
Gayle has been one of the leading run-getters with 450 runs at an average of 40 and a strike rate of 155. His sensational 117 off 57 balls against Kings XI Punjab remains one of the highlights of the IPL season.
Smith’s form at the top of the innings, meanwhile, has not been impressive but he has still managed 325 runs while Bravo has chalked up 186, along with a tournament-high 23 wickets.
Today’s game will not only be a clash of the two heavyweight IPL teams but also of high-profile skipper duo of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
Kohli succeeded Dhoni as the Indian Test captain after the latter’s exit following the third Test match of the Australia series last year. India lost the four-match series 0-2.
The two skippers employ a vastly different mode of leadership which adds an intriguing sub-plot to the contest.
While Kohli’s brash, aggressive, meeting fire-with-fire persona – and flaunting his high-profile relationship with Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma – often lands him in trouble on-and-off the field, Dhoni is the embodiment of calmness, earning global praise for captaining in a composed manner. Their each move will be as keenly followed as the outcome of the match.
The Dhoni-led CSK will approach the match at the JSCA International Stadium, the first one at the ground this season, psychologically in a better position after beating RCB in both the group stage matches.
The winner of the match will meet Mumbai Indians in the final in Kolkata on May 24. Mumbai beat Chennai in the first qualifier by 25 runs on Tuesday.
Mumbai will feature West Indies players Lendl Simmons and Kieron Pollard, who both played crucial roles in Tuesday’s win.