Rajat Patidar has a shot at history – to achieve what no man before him has been able to do. Win the Indian Premier League championship for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Many legends have chased the IPL title before him. Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori, Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis. The list goes on. Yet, they all failed. Patidar, on the other hand, has led RCB to an IPL final – their fourth ever – in just his first attempt. And say whatever you want to, they are the favourites heading into the final tonight in Ahmedabad against a red-hot Punjab Kings.
The IPL’s schedule is such that there is very little time for pre-match conferences by captains. Hence, when the two captains – Patidar and Shreyas Iyer – came together to address the media ahead of the IPL final, it came as a breath of fresh air. Captains of the two finalists, with the trophy in front of them, posed with the ‘gold’ware, hoping for one final shot at glory. Remember, these are two of the only three teams from the original eight from back in 2008 to have never won the IPL, but that changes tonight.
However, heading into the final, RCB fans are worried. It goes beyond the usual jitters and butterflies in the stomach. Similar to the players, especially Virat Kohli, it’s been an endless wait for them too. They are offering prayers in temples, placing pictures of their favourite superstars next to idols of gods. That’s how much it means. But at the same time, some fans couldn’t help but notice something that seems to have shaken their faith.
Oh no! What have you done, Rajat Patidar?
During the press conference, the cameras caught Patidar looking at the trophy, and fans couldn’t help but correlate it to the 2023 World Cup, where Rohit Sharma was seen staring at the trophy. Unfortunately, we all know how it turned out, and RCB fans fear the same thing is going to happen to their team tonight at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Here are some of the reactions:
Moment of truth for Punjab Kings and their captain Shreyas Iyer
For Punjab Kings, this is their second IPL final. They last and the only other time they made it to the summit clash of the Indian Premier League was 11 years ago, when they lost to the Kolkata Knight Riders in the final. As much as winning the IPL means to PBKS and its owner Preity Zinta, it’s equally big for captain Shreyas Iyer, who will be eyeing his second successive IPL title – albeit with different teams.
