IPL: 5 Players with most final appearances

With the IPL final dawning, there is a very interesting difference in the two squads that will be facing off. Chennai Super Kings will walk out with a squad that is far more experienced than Sunrisers Hyderabad's. Even though at the end of the day, it will boil down to better execution of skills, it is interesting to have a look at the most experienced of IPL campaigners over the years in terms of players who have appeared in the most number of finals.

Unsurprisingly, it is players from Chennai Super Kings dominating the list, and why not? They have been known for refraining from chopping and changing their squad, and naturally, it is only their players who feature at the top.

Note: The stats do not include the 2018 IPL finals

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MS Dhoni (7 appearances for CSK and RPS)

The talismanic Indian wicket-keeper has become a perennial sight in IPL finals, missing only three out of the ten finals staged so far. Of all the players in this list, he is the only one to have led his side in all eight of those encounters. From the heartbreaking disappointment of losing the inaugural final on the last delivery of the match, to shepherding his troops in a crushing win over an all-conquering Chris Gayle crazed Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011, you name it and he has been there.

His unmatched experience will be invaluable come the big game on Sunday against Sunrisers Hyderabad, as Chennai Super Kings could use his level-headed thought process lest they stumble right on the verge of glory. With 455 runs and a strike rate of 150.66, Dhoni has silenced all doubters this year and will be looking to emulate his stunning run with the bat in the winner-take-all encounter.

Performance in finals:

178 runs at an average of 44.5 and a strike rate of 142.4

Suresh Raina (6 appearances for CSK)

Raina prostrated on his knee and launching the ball over long-on has been one of the more recurring pictures of the IPL

Chennai Super Kings' man Friday, Suresh Raina has been the solitary stable element in IPL's most celebrated franchise over the years. Along with Dhoni, he has featured in all finals CSK have appeared in. One of India's first T20 specialists, Raina defined the template for batting at one-drop. With an inherently attacking instinct, but a head stable enough to see him through the tougher times at the crease, Raina has arguably been the most consistent batsman in the IPL, so much so that his worst season adds up to a relatively high tally of 374 runs.

This year, he has shown himself in a different light as well, playing out the good bowlers and anchoring the innings on a few occasions after an indifferent start to the season, where he was often guilty of pre-meditating his shots against express pace.

Performance in finals:

209 runs at an average of 41.8 and a strike rate of 163.28

Ravichandran Ashwin (5 appearances for CSK)

Keeping up with his habit of tossing something new each ball, Ashwin even bowled leg spin with considerable success this season

His IPL debut is one of the less remarkable stories out there as he did not bowl and neither did he get to bat, but since then R Ashwin has evolved into a cricketer who not only relies on skill and grit, but out-thinks the opponent as well. Remember when he flummoxed Chris Gayle in the 2010 final to effectively end RCB's chase right when it had begun?

Ashwin's innovative approach to the game has allowed him to stay on the T20 scenario for so long as a finger spinner and never for a sustained period did he let batsmen get the better of him. Picking the carrom ball from Ajantha Mendis, he translated its use into more than just sporadic displays of brilliance and over the years made sure that his side always had four safe overs to bank on. He also has a knack for playing cameos with the bat and picking wickets even with the new ball, in the format that virtually rendered finger spinners ineffectual.

Performance in finals:

Played: 5

Won: 2

Wickets: 4

Average: 31

Economy rate: 7.29

Albie Morkel (5 appearances for CSK)

A man of perpetual contradictions, Albie Morkel has always been seen as a player who could have been, perhaps the next Donald, or the next Kallis, or a cross of the two and the next Pollock. But he somehow dwindled into ignominy and all we have of his legacy is the remnants of his IPL exploits, where he became a name almost synonymous with the Chennai war-cry.

Antithetical to his brother Morne in both batting and bowling styles, he created a nice little niche for himself as Dhoni's go-to man, whether it was to get the ball hooping against tentative openers or to knock over the stumps of the cocky hitters aiming for the third tier of the stands in the nineteenth over, or his cherished clean hitting at the back end of the innings which so often injected the momentum in the innings.

Performance in finals:

6 wickets at a bowling average of 19.83 and an economy rate of 7.00.

Subramaniam Badrinath (5 appearances for CSK)

When the going gets tough, the tough get going

One of the most underrated IPL cricketers of all time, Badrinath was always willing to put his hand up for a rescue act. In a team that relied on a well-gelled core to perform, Badrinath was a mainstay but the Dhonis and the Husseys and the Bravos towered over him with their glory acts and international superstardom.

Badrinath was always there, yet somehow never was. He played the gutsy knocks on the humid evenings at the energy-sapping Chepauk, when the sticky pitches did not allow the players of greater flamboyance to flourish, it was he who found ways to get ugly runs. International beckoning did not arrive, neither did the recognition. But nevertheless, he always took his guard with the same nonchalance, the same sense of purpose in his stride and got his team home more often than not with the same unchanging reliability.

Performance in finals:

20 runs at an average of 6.33 and a strike rate of 125.