IPL 2013 final preview: Under a cloud

With their top official Gurunath Meiyappan in police custody for his alleged involvement in cricket betting and the controversy knocking on the franchise owner and BCCI president N Srinivasans door,Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men find themselves under a lot of pressure.

Coach Stephen Fleming admitted that the players and support staff are stressed. Chennai are the most successful team in the IPL. They have been in the finals five times and have won the tournament twice. But now,embroiled in the biggest scam in the IPL history,becoming champions for a third time would be a daunting task.

The loss in the first Qualifier notwithstanding,Mumbai Indians will go into the summit clash with the wind behind them. They had made the final back in 2010,but they had run up against the familiar foe from Chennai and came out second best. With so much pressure on their opponents,this is perhaps Mumbais best chance to claim their first IPL title and avenge the defeat from three years back.

Keeping their cool

The off-field issues might distract them,but Chennai is a side used to winning. Dhoni will be counting on the senior heads in the team like Michael Hussey to keep the team focussed and a calm innings at the top of the order will go a long way in getting the side into its groove. The current holder of the orange cap has had an excellent season and his partnership with Murali Vijay has begun coming good right at the business end of the tournament.

Suresh Raina too has picked up his form in the second half of the tournament and with the lower middle order packed with the likes of Dhoni,Bravo,Albie Morkel and Ravindra Jadeja,the sides batting has always been strong.

Mumbai arent far behind in that department either. If Chennai have Husseys class upfront,then Mumbai too have Rohit Sharma. Sharma,though effective,has been struggling to convert his starts of late and hasnt scored a half-century (79 not out against Punjab) since April 29.

Dwayne Smith,like he proved in the league stage against Chennai,can prove a fearful hitter and is in red hot form with back to back half centuries. Dinesh Karthik had a good start to the season and has faded since while Kioren Pollard is the sides most spectacular match winner.

The bowling honours too will be shared by the sides. Chennai have Bravo with 28 wickets. Mumbai too have Mitchell Johnson (22 wickets) and Lasith Malinga (18 wickets) to spearhead their pace attack. That said,the battle of the spinners on a sluggish Eden Gardens wicket could play a role in deciding the contest.

Spinners contest

Ravichandran Ashwin has emerged as the kind of bowler whom batsmen play out rather than give their wickets to in the format while Jadeja will be his wingman. Mumbai have Harbhajan Singh,who comes into the game with the man of the match winning performance.

Pragyan Ojha,who looked to have bruised his shoulder in the previous game,is likely to support him. Sachin Tendulkar though,recovering from an injury on his left wrist,is all but ruled out for the final.

With the teams so evenly matched,it might well be other factors that may decide the contest. The under pressure Chennai side lost twice to Mumbai during the league stages and the latter have won five out of six games at Eden.

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