Hobart Hurricanes always had the team. It's like the Melbourne Stars, they were almost talked about in the same breath of having star-studded team sheets but just weren't able to put the performances on the park. 2024-25 was no different. Hurricanes didn't really set the draft on fire with some colossal acquisitions or signed a once-in-a-generation player or even out of the draft.
They had almost the similar set of players but the difference you ask? They had their main guys performing. Tim David pulling off an all-timer of a season, Mitch Owen having a breakthrough year, despite injury to Billy Stanlake, they had enough and more backups to cover for and now Nathan Ellis, Matthew Wade and Co find themselves on the brink of history, of becoming the first Cane Train to lift the Big Bash League trophy.
It's been seven years, that's long time. Not a single player from that squad is actively playing cricket, let alone BBL (apart from of course Ben Dunk, who has become a T20 freelancer.) Against them are Sydney Thunder, who are in the final after nine seasons, since their only title in BBL 05. It has been a dream run for the Thunder, led by the charismatic David Warner and will his leadership redemption arc culminate with a title? Makes for a great career arc though... Has won an IPL and a T20I tri-series already as captain in the format, Warner now has the golden opportunity to finish it off in style. Should be a cracker at NINJA!
When and where to watch BBL 2024-25 Final live on TV and OTT in India?
The Big Bash League final between the Hurricanes and the Thunder will kick off at 1:45 PM IST on Monday, January 27. The BBL final will be live on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD channels on TV while the live streaming of the match will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website.
Squads
Hobart Hurricanes: Caleb Jewell, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Wade (wk), Ben McDermott, Nikhil Chaudhary, Tim David, Chris Jordan, Nathan Ellis (c), Cameron Gannon, Peter Hatzoglou, Riley Meredith, Jake Doran, Patrick Dooley, Charlie Wakim
Sydney Thunder: David Warner (c), Hugh Weibgen, Matthew Gilkes, Sam Billings (wk), George Garton, Jason Sangha, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Tom Andrews, Wes Agar, Tanveer Sangha, Daniel Christian, Mohammad Hasnain, Oliver Davies