Shreyas Iyer and Rajat Patidar are like fire and water - one thrives on aggression, the other oozes calm. Yet both are remarkably effective as leaders, leading the two best teams of the season. IPL 18 couldn't have asked for a more fitting showdown than a Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru face-off in its grand finale.
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The two teams will clash against each other for the fourth time this season. © BCCI
On the eve of the match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Iyer, true to himself, ratcheted up the rhetoric. He spoke of 'fight,' 'war,' and 'taking the bull by the horns.' Patidar, by contrast, sought to play down the build-up with a calm and restrained demeanour. He seemed to think of 100 words, settle on 20, and ultimately speak just 12.
"See, when you are on the field, it's all about rivalry," Iyer, fresh from a breathtaking knock in the semifinal, thundered on the eve of the final. "It's not about comfort at all. When you step on to the field, you are at a war. And you fight to win.
"So, I will put in everything. And I will give in everything to see to it that my team wins." Patidar responded stating, "If I say (talk) about Punjab, I think they are playing a tremendous amount of cricket in this league. And the way they are playing, I think it will be a challenge for us in the next game." Possibly the mildest take on the final.
Amped up rhetoric - or the lack of it - aside, the last encounter between these two sides was a one-sided affair, with RCB
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