The final of the 2024 edition of the IPL is here! One of two teams will get their hands on the converted silverware for one more time with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) having won twice already and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) winning it once in 2016. Two evenly-matched teams with similar approaches are rightfully in the final being the best teams in the competition.
The big players are expected to put their hand up in the big and pressure moments like Mitchell Starc did it for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first qualifier and R Ashwin did for the Rajasthan Royals in the eliminator. Jasprit Bumrah (2019), Yusuf Pathan (2008), Faf du Plessis (2021), Hardik Pandya (2022), Rohit Sharma (2015) and Shane Watson (2018) are among the key players to win the Player of the Match award in the final and took their respective teams to the title.
In 16 editions so far, 15 times a player from the winners' team has won the Man of the Match in the final but only once did a losing finalist have a player getting the award. It happened in the 2009 edition of the IPL when the Deccan Chargers sneaked home by just six runs against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Skipper Anil Kumble with the figures of 4/16 played a central role in RCB restricting the Chargers to a chasable score of 143. However, the Chargers' bowling attack was up to the task as well. Pragyan Ojha, Harmeet Singh and Andrew Symonds combined to restrict RCB to just 137 and helped the Chargers win a thriller.
Despite losing the match, Kumble for his exemplary performance with the ball was adjudged the player of the match in the final. That was the only occasion till now when the Player of the Final was from the losing team.
