It’s in the fitness of things that the two most consistent teams in the league phase will contest the final of IPL 2023, at the gargantuan Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday. Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings finished one and two at the end of the first stage; where Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men took the straight road to the final, the defending champions had to embark on the more scenic route that involved a Qualifier 2 shootout against Mumbai Indians on Friday.

Shubman Gill looms as the primary, but not only threat, in Chennai’s bid to equal Mumbai’s record of five titles. The elegant right-hander is in red-hot form with three hundreds and an unbeaten 94 in his last six innings, which has practically guaranteed him the Orange Cap. Such has been his dominance that even though Gujarat have three other batsmen with more than 300 runs—skipper Hardik Pandya, Wriddhiman Saha and Vijay Shankar—it’s Gill that has been the talk of the town.