IPL 2024 Final: Pat Cummins vs Gautam Gambhir – The clash of beast mentality

Sports, not necessarily cricket, are often won outside the playing field, and this gentlemen’s game is no different. With plenty at stake, this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) Final is one to watch out for, more so for the opponents – the two table-toppers this season, KKR and SRH. However, the bigger picture is a clash between two individuals with the ‘beast mentality’ – KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir and SRH captain Pat Cummins.

‘You win it in thehead’

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The biggest match winners across countless sports worldwide have one thing in common – they win it in their heads before it gets played on the field, and Gambhir and Cummins belong to that category.

Talking of Gambhir first, the recently-appointed Kolkata Knight Riders mentor is a two-time IPL winner with the same franchise (2012 and 2014). He is among the only two captains in the tournament history with a 100% winning record in IPL finals.

ALSO READ:Pat Cummins explains how ‘super aggressive’ approach helped SRH shine in IPL 2024

A match-winner of his calibre holds several top records in Indian jersey as well. In two World Cup winning campaigns (T20 WC and 50-over 2011 WC), Gambhir topped the run-scoring chart in the finale, scoring 75 vs Pakistan in 2007 and 97 vs Sri Lanka in 2011 – showing the world how much of a big-game player he is.

Fast forward 10 years, Gambhir returned to KKR to mentor the team, and the result is out for everyone to see, with his side bagging their first-ever finish on the points table and subsequently reaching the final.

Since the great Ricky Ponting, Pat Cummins is the first Aussie captain to win multiple ICC trophies. After getting appointed as Australia’s Test and ODI captain, Cummins won the World Test Championship (WTC) last year and the 50-over World Cup – Australia’s sixth, beating India on both occasions.

Such has been his rise that in his maiden stint as a T20 captain across all cricket, Cummins led his team to the finals this year. Not only that, but the confidence he injected in his teammates had the world talking.

His ‘super aggressive’ approach as a captain saw SRH break IPL’s highest team total record twice this season, with openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma hogging all the limelight.

Besides, the recent example of his ‘beast mentality’ was his answer relating to possible semi-finalists at the T20 World Cup, to which he said, ‘Australia is one of them, and he doesn’t care who the remaining three are.’

Meanwhile, KKR will face SRH in the IPL 2024 Final at Chepauk in Chennaion Sunday(May 26).