The Mustafizur subplot in the RCB-SRH showdown

Just over 90 mintutes remain for the Indian Premier League final between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The big question in all Bangladeshi cricket fans' minds is whether Mustafizur Rahman, the young Bangladeshi pacer who has taken the cricketing world by storm in his short career, will play the all-important match for Hyderabad.

The long and short of it is that it is still not known. The team has left this decision to within the final minutes before the match. Mustafizur missed the qualifier against Gujarat Lions on Friday because of a 'slight hamstring injury', in the words of Hyderabad skipper David Warner. Mustafizur is probably at the ground now and will go through the practice drills with his teammates, and if all goes well and the 20-year-old does not feel any discomfort, he is likely to play. 

Virat Kohli will be eyeing a fairytale end to a record-breaking season when he leads the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League final against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Kohli has been in the form of his life since the recent World Twenty20, a tournament where the 27-year-old was named player-of-the-tournament after scoring 273 runs across five matches at an average of 136.50, and he has again been in a class of his own in this edition of the IPL.

Kohli has shattered the previous best aggregate in a season by scoring 919 runs, including four centuries and six fifties.

Rated as the number one T20 batsman in the world, he has also gained kudos for his captaincy during Bangalore's rollercoaster ride to the final.

After a disappointing start to the tournament left them bottom of the table at one stage, Kohli inspired them to a second placed finish.

He had a rare failure in Wednesday's final four eliminator when he was bowled for a duck but South African AB de Villiers stepped up to the plate with an unbeaten 79 which took Bangalore over the line.

Hyderabad skipper David Warner has had his own fair share of controversy over the years but he has let his batting do the talking this year. Warner's scintillating innings of 93 not out in Delhi on Friday night ensured his team's qualification for the final which is being played in Bangalore.

The Australian's 58-ball blitz against Gujarat Lions was his eighth fifty, putting him second in the scoring chart behind Kohli with 779 runs.

"The final is about not worrying about their players and executing our plans," Warner said after the match.

Hyderabad's seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the leading wicket-taker with 23 scalps and he has received crucial support from his young Bangladeshi partner Mustafizur Rahman who has taken 16 wickets.

After previous editions had been marred by fixing and corruption, this year's tournament has managed to avoid any major scandal.

However the venue of the final had to be switched to Bangalore after judges banned Mumbai from hosting matches at a time when the state of Maharashtra has suffered a drought.

Neither of the finalists have ever won the tournament which is now in its ninth year.