Who will be the champion of the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League will be decided today. There will be a title clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans. Earlier, former Indian cricketer Murali Karthik selected the Team of the Tournament of IPL 2026. He included Vaibhav Suryavanshi as an impact player. Virat Kohli was kept at number three, now Joffra Archer was also included along with purple cap holder Kagiso Rabada. However, their team does not have Shubman Gill, who scored a century in the second qualifier.

While selecting the IPL 2026 Team of the Tournament on Cricbuzz, he included Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Sai Sudarshan as openers, although he kept Vaibhav as an impact player. Vaibhav is currently the Orange Cap holder, having scored 776 runs in 16 innings. Sudarshan has scored 710 runs in 16 innings.

Virat Kohli at number three

Karthik kept Virat Kohli at number three in his team, who has so far scored 600 runs in 15 innings. A good innings will be expected from Kohli in the final today also. Karthik placed Ishan Kishan at fourth position and RCB captain Rajat Patidar at fifth position. He placed Heinrich Klaasen and Krunal Pandya at sixth and seventh positions respectively.

Also read- IPL 2026 final canceled due to rain, so who will win the trophy, RCB or GT? Know the rules

These 3 fast bowlers were included

Along with Reddy and Krunal, Karthik kept Sunil Narine as the third all-rounder. He chose Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Joffra Archer and Kagiso Rabada as the three fast bowlers. Rabada is currently the purple cap holder with 28 wickets. In terms of most wickets, Bhuvi is at second place (26) and Archer (25) is at third place.

Also read – Before the IPL 2026 final, RCB captain Rajat Patidar roared, said – to win another trophy…

IPL 2026 Team of the Tournament (Picked by Murali Karthik)

Sai Sudarshan, Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Impact Player), Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Rajat Patidar, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Krunal Pandya, Sunil Narine, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer, Kagiso Rabada.

Hardik Pandya & Murali Karthik Viral Video: India has also defeated New Zealand in the second match of the 5-match T20 series. With this win, Team India has taken a 2-0 lead in the series. Before the start of the match between India and New Zealand played in Raipur, a video is going viral on social media, which is of Indian star all-rounder Hardik Pandya and former Indian cricketer Murali Karthik. In that video, an intense conversation is seen between Hardik and Murali Karthik on some issue. Regarding the video, it is being claimed on social media that an ‘argument’ is taking place between the two. This video was recorded by the spectators from the stands. However, there is no sound in it and only the noise of the field is heard in the video.

Why was there an argument between Hardik Pandya and Murali Karthik?

In the viral video on social media, it can be seen that Hardik Pandya is coming on the field wearing a practice kit, with a bat and gloves in his hand. During that time, he meets Murali Karthik, who is on commentary duty. Both of them first shook hands with each other, after which they were seen talking for some time. In the video, it seemed that Murali Karthik was explaining something to Hardik and was trying to calm him down. However, it is not clear what was said in the conversation. Seeing Hardik Pandya’s body language, people on social media are calling it a debate.

Heated exchange between Hardik Pandya and Murali Kartik? Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/PsKs2ia7TF

— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) January 23, 2026

How was Hardik Pandya’s performance in the match?

In the second T20 International against New Zealand, Hardik Pandya bowled economically in three overs. Hardik managed to take 1 wicket for just 25 runs. He dismissed Mark Chapman, who returned to the pavilion after scoring 10 runs. However, Hardik Pandya did not come out to bat because he was not needed. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan scored stormy half-centuries and led the team to victory.

Under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings won the last match of IPL season 18 against Gujarat Titans. The CSK IPL, which lost 10 matches, was the first team to be out of the playoff race in 2025. When Dhoni landed for the toss on Sunday, it was believed that this player could be his last match. Responding to the question related to this, MS Dhoni said that he is curious to go to Ranchi and he has a lot of time to think on retirement. Meanwhile, the former Indian cricketer feels that Dhoni has already played more than the time and now he should retire.

For the first time in IPL history, CSK lost 10 matches in 14 league matches. The five -time champion Chennai was ranked at the bottom of this season in the points table. MS Dhoni’s performance also did not meet expectations, he failed to finish the innings on several occasions. Talking about Dhoni’s future, former cricketer Murali Karthik has now come to say goodbye to his IPL career, because some things always end.

What did Karthik say on Dhoni’s future

Murali Karthik said during a conversation on cricbing, “The world loves Dhoni and some things we do not want to finish, one day comes when it comes to an end. Sometimes you don’t want you to get such a shock, sometimes, sometimes, you don’t want those who love you, you have supported for a long time.

He further said, “Now that Virat Kohli has taken retirement from the test, everyone is saying, you had two to three years left. He is 36 years old. He is very fit.

Can MS Dhoni captain next year?

A fan asked him if Dhoni could captain the franchise in the next season? Responding to this, Karthik said that the role of captaincy is now from Ruturaj Gaikwad and he should be given time to make the team his own and get addicted to the captaincy. He said, “I don’t think he will take away the captaincy from Ruturaj Gaikwad and give it to Dhoni.”

Who in place of MS Dhoni?

Who will play his role in the team after MS Dhoni’s departure? Questions often arise about this. To this, Karthik said, “This is a big responsibility, so you should give people a chance to make their place.