Remembering the Man of the Match performances in all IPL finals

The Indian Premier League has been one of the most popular T20 Leagues in the world. Players from different countries participate in the cash-rich league to stake a claim for selection in the process. All the top Indian players participate in IPL, which has now become an abode to find young talent.

Players from West Indies, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand have always grabbed a lot of attention. Afghanistan has a footprint as well and England, who had initially resisted to be a part of the IPL, joined the bandwagon recently after envisioning long-term benefits.

The Indian Premier League has produced some special performances over the years. There is fierce competition between the eight teams over 60 days. Unimaginable records have been created and the cricket played is top billing. Each and every game is a spectacle for the fans as it is all number driven. Every six, boundary, wicket, fifty or a hundred makes an impact in the final scoreline.

Lets look into such impact performances in all IPL finals.

---

#1 Yusuf Pathan - 56 (39) and 3/22 - RR V CSK, 2008 in Mumbai

Chennai Super Kings were playing the in-form Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural final of the IPL in 2008. Shane Warne won the toss and put CSK into bat. Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina played useful knocks of 38 and 43, respectively. A few lusty blows from the blade of MS Dhoni and Albie Morkel helped CSK reach a respectable 163. Yusuf Pathan was the pick of the bowlers for Rajasthan picking 3/22 in 4 overs.

Rajasthan lost a couple of early wickets, but Swapnil Asknodkar's 28 from 20 balls gave them impetus. After he has dismissed, Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan consolidated the innings with a 65-run stand. Once Pathan was dismissed for 56, it looked all but over for Rajasthan. 19 were required from 14 balls, but captain Shane Warne and Sohail Tanvir held their nerve and knocked off the remaining runs.

Pathan's all round effort earned him the MoM in the first ever IPL final.

#2 Anil Kumble 4/16 - RCB v DC, 2009 in Johannesburg

Anil Kumble's 4 for 16 did not stop Deccan Chargers from winning the title

IPL 2009 was played in South Africa due to the general elections in India and Deccan Chargers were locking horns again Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB won the toss and put DC to bat. DC suffered a blow in the first over when Kumble dismissed Gilchrist for 0. Gibbs held one end with a score of 53 and Symonds' 33 and Rohit Sharma's 24 helped DC score a promising 143.

RCB had a disastrous start to their innings, losing Jacques Kallis early on in the innings. India's first-ever IPL centurion Manish Pandey was the next to go. Van der Merve and Ross Taylor tried their best to resurrect the innings. RCB could never get going as they lost the wickets of Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli. RCB needed 15 in the last over and Robin Uthappa failed to deliver and all RCB could manage was 137, thus handing DC a 6-run win.

Anil Kumble was given the MOM for his brilliant spell where he picked 4 for 16 in 4 overs.

#3 Suresh Raina - 57* (35) and 1/21 - MI V CSK, 2010 in Mumbai

Suresh Raina played an aggressive knock scoring 57 in 35 balls

CSK were playing against MI in Mumbai and the latter had full support of the crowd. CSK won the toss and elected to bat. Openers Murali Vijay and Matthew Hayden gave CSK a good start. Raina held the innings, but continued to play aggressively. This provided the platform for CSK's big hitters MS Dhoni and Albie Morkel to deposit a few big ones into the crowd. CSK posted 168 on the board which had never been chased before in the finals.

MI lost Shikhar Dhawan early on, but they had the great Sachin Tendulkar who was in the middle of a purple patch. Sachin and Abhishek Nayar gave the innings some momentum. But after Nayar got out, CSK's spinners slowed down proceedings in the middle overs. Once Sachin was dismissed for 48, MI were almost out of the contest. Pollard scored a quickfire 27, but his dismissal meant, it was curtains for MI who scored 146 handing CSK a 22-run win.

Suresh Raina was awarded the MoM for his all-round efforts.

#4 Murali Vijay - 95 (52) - RCB V CSK, 2011 in Chennai

Murali Vijay's 95 sealed the deal for CSK

CSK and RCB were playing the final in Chennai in 2011. RCB was the form team in the tournament. CSK won the toss and chose to bat. Openers Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay added 159 in less than 15 overs. Once Hussey was out for 63, Vijay's 95 and Dhoni's quickfire 22 helped CSK reach a match-winning total of 205. Vijay's classy 95 included 4 boundaries and 6 mighty sixes.

RCB had a mighty batting line up with Gayle, Kohli and AB de Villers in their top 4. Dhoni smartly started off with the off-spin of Ravi Ashwin to counter Gayle. Ashwin dismissed Gayle for 0 and even though Kohli and ABD got the run rate up, their dismissals derailed the innings for RCB. RCB eventually meandered to a meagre 147 to give CSK a 58-run win.

Vijay was rightly given the MoM for his magnificent 95.

#5 Manvinder Bisla - 89 (48) - KKR V CSK, 2012 in Chennai

Manvinder Bisla scored a belligerent 89 to give KKR their maiden IPL title

CSK were playing their third successive final and they had the crowd support as well. KKR were the underdogs going into the final. CSK won the toss and chose to bat. CSK's top three had a great game with Mike Hussey and Suresh Raina scoring 54 and 73, respectively. MS Dhoni's cameo in the end helped CSK reach a mammoth 190. It was a very good score considering Chennai had produced a slow wicket.

KKR got off to terrible start losing captain Gambhir early in the chase. Manvinder Bisla and Kallis had a brilliant 136-run partnership in 82 balls. Bisla's 89 came off 48 balls with 8 fours and 5 sixes. Both of them departed in quick succession, but Shakib-al-Hasan and Manoj Tiwari held their nerve and scored the remaining runs with 2 balls to spare.

Bisla's match-winning 89 earned him his maiden MoM in the IPL 2012 finals.

#6 Kieron Pollard - 60 (32) - MI V CSK, 2011 in Kolkata

Pollard's all round effort helped Mumbai Indians win their maiden IPL title

CSK were playing their 5th final in 6 IPLs. MI was playing their 2nd final and CSK was a tough proposition. Captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat. MI lost their top order early before Ambati Rayudu's 37 provided some substance to the innings. Pollard scored a quickfire 60 off 32 balls with 3 sixes and 7 fours. MI gained some lost ground and posted a competitive 148 after their 20 overs.

Lasith Malinga started the innings on a good note picking both Hussey and Raina in the first over. CSK completely lost the momentum and were reeling at 39 for 6. Dwayne Bravo and MS Dhoni were the last recognized pair who could seal the deal for CSK. Once Bravo was out, matters became tough and MI's tight bowling did not allow Dhoni to go big. Even though Dhoni scored 63, he never threatened to take the game away, giving MI their maiden IPL title.

Pollard's whirlwind 60 gave him the MoM award in 2013 IPL final.

#7 Manish Pandey - 94 (50) - KKR V Kings XI, 2014 in Bengaluru

Manish Pandey proved to be the match-winner with a classy 94

Kings XI was the form team in the tournament, who stormed their way into the finals. KKR had built up the momentum at the right time. As the game was played in Bengaluru, KKR won the toss and chose to field. Manan Vohra and Wriddhiman Saha were involved in a great partnership which helped Kings XI post a mammoth 199. KKR had their task cut-out as they had to chase 200 under intense pressure.

Uthappa was dismissed early, but Gambhir and Pandey got KKR off to a flyer. Once Gambhir got out for 23, Pandey forged an aggressive partnership of 71 with Yusuf Pathan. Pandey was playing a defining innings and held the innings together before getting dismissed for 94 and taking KKR within touching distance. Piyush Chawla's 13 off 5 balls helped KKR scale the target.

Pandey's classy 94 got him the MoM award in the 2014 IPL final.

#8 Rohit Sharma - MI V CSK, 2015 in Kolkata

Rohit Sharma's stroke filled 50 helped MI defeat CSK for the second time

MI and CSK were playing the third final together and both had won one final each. The final was played in Kolkata, a ground where Rohit Sharma has a tremendous record. He won the toss and decided to bat first. MI were bolstered with some good contributions right from the top. If Simmons (68) and Rohit (50) provided the platform, Rayudu (36) and Pollard (36) finished well, with MI scoring 202.

CSK lost Hussey early, but Dwayne Smith and Raina brought the innings back on track. Smith (57) and Raina (28) were dismissed in quick succession and once MS Dhoni was out, it was all but over for CSK. Mohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja helped CSK to reach a degree of respectability. CSK eventually managed 161 and fell short by 41 runs.

Rohit's 50 and his brilliant captaincy helped him win the MoM award.

#9 Ben Cutting - 39*(15) and 2/35 - RCB v SRH, 2016 in Bengaluru

Ben Cutting's match winning cameo proved too costly for RCB

RCB's form was too hot to handle and SRH had the best bowling side in the tournament. SRH won the toss and surprisingly chose to bat against a strong RCB side in Bengaluru. Warner (69) and Yuvraj Singh (38) played good knocks and the score read 148 in 16 overs when Cutting arrived. The big Australian played a mighty cameo to propel SRH to a formidable 208, which was also the highest score in an IPL final.

RCB got off to a flyer with Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli in a no-nonsense mood. The ball was disappearing to all parts of the ground and it looked like RCB would comfortably pull it off. Once Gayle (73) and Kohli (54) were dismissed, RCB lost all the momentum. SRH's disciplined death bowling did not allow RCB to come back into the game. Even though RCB scored 200, they fell short of the target by 8 runs.

Ben Cutting for his all-round efforts was given the MoM in the 2016 IPL final.

#10 Krunal Pandya - 47 (38) - MI v RPS, 2017 in Hyderabad

Krunal Pandya's responsible 47 helped MI win their third IPL title

MI was the team to beat and they were taking on a promising RPS in the final in Hyderabad. Rohit Sharma had no hesitation in batting first after winning the toss. MI were derailed due to some disciplined bowling by RPS and they were struggling at 65 for 5 at the end of 12th over. Krunal Pandya partnered with Mitchell Johnson and the duo put on a 50-run stand for the 8th wicket and helped MI reach a respectable 129.

RPS lost Rahul Tripathi early, but Ajinkya Rahane and the in-form skipper Steve Smith had an impressive 54-run partnership. 55 runs were required off 48 balls with 8 wickets, and it looked like it would be a walk in the park for RPS. MI's bowlers slowed down the proceedings which resulted in a few wickets. Smith held fort at one end and it came down to the wire with Pune needing 11 off 6. Johnson held his nerve to give MI a 1-run win.

Krunal Pandya's match defining 47 helped him to win the MoM in IPL 2017 final.

#11 Shane Watson - 117 (57) - CSK v SRH, 2018 in Mumbai

Shane Watson's powerful century helped CSK win their third IPL title

SRH were playing their second IPL final and had the best bowling side in the tournament. CSK, to negate this threat, decided to bowl first after winning the toss. Kane Williamson was in tremendous form and he scored a brilliant 47. Yusuf Pathan's cameo of 45 helped SRH reach 178 in the stipulated quota of 20 overs. Considering that SRH had the talismanic Rashid Khan, 178 was a very good score.

CSK started their innings on a slow note scoring 25 in 5 overs. SRH had the best death bowlers and it looked as if the match will go down all the way to the wire. Shane Watson suddenly changed the momentum by hitting sixes at will. Raina and Watson put on 117 for the 2nd wicket and Watson completed his century and finished with a terrific 117. CSK won the match comfortably with 8 wickets.

Watson's powerful 117 helped him to win the MoM in 2018 IPL final.