Brace yourselves as yet another exciting season of the world biggest T20 league is just around the corner. Indeed, the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is slated to begin less than two weeks from now.
The first match of the brand-new IPL season will take place between two teams from the southern part of India who share a big rivalry: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The curtain-raiser will be held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on March 22.
Bet here on the upcoming IPL 2024 matches!
The full schedule of IPL 2024 is yet to be released due to the upcoming General Elections in India, which are expected to take place in April or May.
Hence, only a part of the schedule has been released by IPL, with only the first 17 days' worth of fixtures known to the public.
Ahead of what is expected to be an even bigger and better season than the previous years, let's take a walk down the memory lane and relive the final of IPL 2023, which was hands down one of the greatest IPL games of all-time.
MORE: IPL 2024 first phase schedule and full list of fixtures
Who won IPL 2023?
The final of IPL 2023 took place between the-then defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT), led by Hardik Pandya, and then four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) led by MS Dhoni.
CSK won the final to win a joint record-fifth IPL title, winning the game on the final delivery of the match.
IPL 2023 Final recap: What happened during the title-decider?
Originally scheduled to be played on May 28, 2023, the IPL 2023 final between CSK and GT was moved to the reserve day on May 29.
On May 28, rain played spoilsport and the match had ultimately had to be abandoned for the day and postponed to May 29. The final took place at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium, with over a 120,000 spectators.
CSK won the toss and opted to field first. GT got off to a flying start, with openers Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha, the former in particular, taking the attack to the bowlers. Gill, however, was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja in the seventh over to earn some respite.
Then, it was the Sai Sudharsan show, as the-then 21-year-old uncapped Indian showed absolutely no nerves. Playing his first full season in the IPL, the southpaw batted like a veteran and fell just four runs short of a well-deserved century in the IPL. His 96, coupled with Saha's half-century and skipper Hardik Pandya's 21-run cameo, helped GT post a commanding 214-run total on the board.
The run chase was in danger of being interrupted by rain, with the weather gods starting to make their presence felt immediately after the end of GT's innings.
Play resumed almost 20-25 minutes after the scheduled time, only for the play to be halted three balls into CSK's innings. The players walked off the field at 9:50 PM IST, and had to wait for almost two-and-a-half hours before entering the field again.
Enter they did, at 12:10 AM IST on May 30, the final entering its third day. The run chase was truncated to just 15 overs, with CSK requiring 171 according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.
CSK openers Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad gave their team an ideal start, scoring 72 runs without the loss of any wickets in the first six overs. Conway was especially enjoying the occasion, racing to 44 off just 22 balls.
However, the first twist of the run chase came with the introduction to teenage Afghan wrist spinner Noor Ahmad, who removed both the openers in his first over (and CSK's 7th) to bring the momentum back on GT's side.
Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube steadied the ship with a crucial 39-run stand for the third wicket, before Mohit Sharma dismissed the former to once again turn the tide.
Ambati Rayudu clobbered a few big hits, while Dube held one end firmly. However, Mohit bowled a game-changing 13th over in CSK's innings, removing Rayudu and MS Dhoni off successive deliveries. Dube was joined by Ravindra Jadeja, CSK left with five wickets in hand.
CSK required 21 runs off their final two overs. Mohammed Shami bowled a fantastic penultimate over, giving away just eight runs.
The responsibility of defending 13 in the final over was entrusted to Mohit, who gave away just three runs in his first four deliveries. Equation: 10 runs, 2 balls.
Just when it looked like GT were going to defend their IPL title, Jadeja hit Mohit for a six followed by a four to complete one of the craziest games of T20 cricket, ever.
CSK won their fifth IPL title and Dhoni tied Mumbai Indians' Rohit Sharma to become the captain with the joint-most IPL titles under his belly.
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