Superstars who have lost the most IPL Finals

Cricket, just as life, can be a cruel sometimes. From multiple highs to soul-crushing lows, it tends to keep us grounded. The Indian Premier League is a case in point. The 2018 edition of the tournament just got done and dusted with the Chennai Super Kings crowned champions.

If you look at the 2018 team of Chennai, there were a plethora of cricketers like Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, and Karn Sharma who were once again at the winning side of things in yet another final.

While Sharma has featured in three consecutive IPL wins (2016 with SRH, 2017 with MI and now 2018 with CSK), Rayudu and Bhajji went on to win their fourth IPL title.

However, there have been superstars over the course of the past eleven years, who had to face the ignominy of losing many IPL finals.

Today in this blog, let us look at such superstars which you might not know, have featured in losing causes in multiple IPL finals.

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#4 Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers (two each, 2011 & 2016)

The bedrock of RCB over the years

Both of AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle have been an integral part of the Indian Premier League since its inception.

While Gayle was with KKR in the first three years, before being called in as a last-minute injury replacement by RCB mid-way through the 2011 campaign, De Villiers was bought in the auctions after having spent three years with the Daredevils.

Gayle (608) and De Villiers (312) were the cornerstone for RCB success throughout the season and were instrumental in leading their side to the finals, where they lost to the 2010 champions Chennai Super Kings by 58 runs.

Gayle and De Villers were at the receiving side again in the 2016 edition, as a rampaging SRH unit spearheaded by David Warner denied the duo of finally laying their hands on the title.

While Gayle scored a blistering 76 in the finals, AB de Villiers was the star of the season alongside Kohli, as he amassed 687 runs at an average of 52.84 and a strike-rate of 168.79.

#3 Virat Kohli (Three, 2009, 2011, 2016)

Three times unlucky

One of the few players to have sworn allegiance to a single IPL Franchise, it is unfathomable that Virat Kohli is yet to win an IPL title.

Kohli has thus featured in three IPL Finals and has to face the ignominy of losing each of them. Kohli played his maiden IPL final in 2009 against the Adam Gilchrist led Deccan Chargers.

RCB proceeded to lose the nail-biter by six runs. Kohli got his second chance in the 2011 Finals but was denied yet again by a rampaging Chennai Super Kings, who on the back of swashbuckling 95 from Murali Vijay, as the Men in Yellow romped home by 58 runs. But, perhaps the most heart-wrenching loss came in the 2016 finals.

Kohli, now the leader of the pack, was having a dream season with the bat, having accumulated a barely believable 973 runs which included four hundred.

He was at it in the finals again. Kohli (54 off 35 balls) and Gayle (76 off 38 balls/0 were going all guns blazing before a middle-order meltdown meant, Kohli would yet again end up on the losing side in the finals.

#2 Suresh Raina (Four, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015)

Raina has featured in four IPL final losses

If there ever was an IPL 'Hall of Fame', Chennai Super Kings Suresh Raina would walk his way into it from the outset. Such has been the legend of Raina in the IPL ever since its inception.

The 3-time IPL winner, Suresh Raina has a plethora of records at his disposal, but he also has had to face the ignominy of being at the receiving end in as many as four IPL finals.

Raina was part of the Chennai Super Kings team that lost the IPL finals to Rajasthan Royals (2008), Kolkata Knight Riders (2012) and twice to the Mumbai Indians in 2013 and 2015.

#1 MS Dhoni (Five, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017)

MS Dhoni has been on the losing side on multiple occasions

It is almost surreal to have MS Dhoni, one of the most successful captains in the history of the IPL to feature on this list.

Yes, Dhoni has led his side, the Chennai Super Kings, to seven finals (three wins, 2010, 2011 and 2018) in nine editions, and is one of the few players to feature in eight finals (one with RPS in 2016), it is also true that Dhoni has ended up on the wrong side on multiple occasions in the final showdown.

While Dhoni-led CSK lost to Rajasthan Royals (2008), Kolkata Knight Riders (2012) and twice to the Mumbai Indians (2013 & 2015), he was also a part of the Rising Pune Supergiant unit that lost to the Mumbai Indians in 2017 final by a solitary run in a low-scoring cliffhanger.

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Which of these players are the unluckiest of the lot? Sound off in the comments section below!