On the eve of the high-octane Indian Premier League (IPL) final between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the MS Dhoni-led yellow brigade have been voted as the strong favourites by a sports fans survey to win their third title at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, May 27.
According to the survey conducted by Indian Sports Fan, an online sports fan community, CSK are the favourites to win the title.
Notably, CSK finished second on the points table behind SRH but managed to beat them in the Qualifier 1 in Mumbai on Tuesday, May 22 to seal a spot in the final. South Africa captain Faf du Plessis played a blinder as the Chennai-based two-time champions sealed a final-over thriller.
The Sunrisers were forced to take the harder route as they traveled to Kolkata to take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 2 on Friday, May 25. Kane Williamson's men outclassed the hosts by 14 runs, thanks to an all-round effort from Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
Meanwhile, CSK skipper MS Dhoni is the most favourite player while Wankhede is the most preferred stadium, according to the survey.
Dhoni pips Kohli, Williamson
The fans survey highlighted Dhoni as the most revered player out of the top 12 players with 27.3% votes followed by Virat Kohli with 22% and SRH captain Kane Williamson with 20.11% fan votes.
The survey further revealed that Mumbai's iconic Wankhede Stadium as the most preferred stadium with 30% votes followed by Kolkata's Eden Gardens Stadium with 20.22%votes, as compared to eight other stadiums.
The survey targeted 14,000 fans across 10 cities with 4,802 successful respondents.
(With IANS inputs)
