For me, it will be Rashid Khan vs Chennai batsmen in the final, says Kumar Sangakkara

After the closely fought contest in the last 59 matches, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will lock horns in the mega finale of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday. Both the teams have faced off thrice this season and the Men in Yellow have managed to come out on top on all the occasions. While it was Rashid Khan in the second qualifier for the SRH who turned the game, the former Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara feels that it will be a battle between the Afghanistan leggie and Chennai batsmen in the title clash.

Rashid has been in amazing form in the last few matches as he was the one who had spun the web in the first qualifier as well and had bowled a sensational spell of 2/11 while defending the small total. Unfortunately, they lost the match but the wily bowler will have another crack at the same group once again on the big night. He is coming off an even better outing against the KKR at the Eden Gardens and will be riding high on confidence.

Why was Rayudu dropped at 4?

Kumar Sangakkara, while speaking to the Times of India, believed that Ambati Rayudu was dropped to number 4 in the line-up only to negate the threat of Rashid in the middle overs. “For me, it will be Rashid Khan vs the Chennai batsmen. That is one of the reason (Ambati) Rayudu has dropped down to No. 4 to handle the threat of Rashid with Suresh Raina. How Chennai handle SRH pacers on the Wankhede track in the early over and how they deal with Rashid in the middle will dictate the course of the final,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dean Jones has also spilt the beans on the captaincy styles of the finalists of the IPL. He felt that Kane Williamson setting field for Andre Russell was the defining moment of the second qualifier which won them the game in the end. “MS (Dhoni) has his own style of captaincy, he waits for the opposition to make mistakes by squeezing the life out of opposing teams. Kane (Williamson) is different because we saw bat-pads, slips and that was what got (Andre) Russell out on Friday,” Jones said.

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