IPL Time Travel Part 3: The win that made Rajasthan - Royal

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Over the years, Cricket has become more than just a game. For some, it's their religion, part of their soul, their dream, their very existence. Warne's sudden death shook the very foundation of these beliefs. 

The believers believed less, dreams reduced to ashes, the very existence questioned. The game lost a big part of its soul. The world lost one of the GOATs. 

But guess what? The show must go on, right? But it's June 1, and we must travel back to acknowledge the first Royal of IPL, Shane Warne. 

It's June 1, and we must travel back to acknowledge the first-ever winners of the IPL, the Rajasthan Royals. 

Much like Gujarat Titans this season, not many cricket pundits gave RR a chance. The team was relatively inexperienced and did not really have a lot of star players. Again, like GT, they defied all expectations to finish on top of the Points Table. 

It all came down to MS Dhoni's CSK vs Warne's RR in the final. At stake? The first-ever IPL title. Well, it couldn't be bigger than this.

Rajasthan won the toss and put CSK to bat first. Batting first, CSK had a humble start. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and put 163 runs on board. Raina top-scored with 43 off 30 deliveries for CSK. 

RR needed 164 to script history, lay the foundation of a legacy, immortalize a bunch of individuals, and prove everyone wrong. Long story short, 164 was the magic number. The start was nothing like any Royal would've hoped for as they were reeling at 42/3. 

It felt like it was all over for RR. But, then came Pathan and Warne, who stitched together a golden partnership of 65 runs and kept Rajasthan alive. But soon, they were back in the hut and it call came down to 8 off the last 6 deliveries.  

It is said that true heroes can come from both the most unlikely and obvious of places. That day for Rajasthan, a hero emerged from the most unlikely place. 

The name was Sohail Tanveer. With 3 required off the last 2 balls and RR 7 down, Tanveer dug deep inside against Balaji to first run a couple on the penultimate delivery and then score the winning single to take Rajasthan home. 

A legacy was built. History was scripted. It was the game that made Rajasthan truly Royal.