IPL: 5 Players with most final appearances

Subramaniam Badrinath (5 appearances for CSK)

When the going gets tough, the tough get going

One of the most underrated IPL cricketers of all time, Badrinath was always willing to put his hand up for a rescue act. In a team that relied on a well-gelled core to perform, Badrinath was a mainstay but the Dhonis and the Husseys and the Bravos towered over him with their glory acts and international superstardom.

Badrinath was always there, yet somehow never was. He played the gutsy knocks on the humid evenings at the energy-sapping Chepauk, when the sticky pitches did not allow the players of greater flamboyance to flourish, it was he who found ways to get ugly runs. International beckoning did not arrive, neither did the recognition. But nevertheless, he always took his guard with the same nonchalance, the same sense of purpose in his stride and got his team home more often than not with the same unchanging reliability.

Performance in finals:

20 runs at an average of 6.33 and a strike rate of 125.