Several players that stepped down the 80-odd stairs from the dressing rooms nestled high up beyond the sightscreen and onto the sprawling oval of the Narendra Modi Stadium took a few fleeting extra seconds to take in their surroundings before proceeding with their tune-up sessions. Perhaps, it was that inescapable passing thought about a World Cup final and how everything they’ve done till now – picking up a bat or a ball, that first boundary, that first appeal, the sweat, the tears and the sweet joy of that imaginary six hit to win the World Cup – will all be telescoped into these next few hours. Or maybe, all they were looking at was the new paraphernalia that had sprung up at the mega structure readying itself for a glitzy curtain call.
For neither side is stranger to this stage. Certainly not Australia, who are doing this for the eighth time. They have picked up World Cups like how some #wanderlusts collect souvenir fridge magnets on their journeys: in Kolkata, London, Johannesburg, Barbados and Melbourne. For so many teams, playing a World Cup final is an occasion. For Australia, it’s a way of life. And still, their journey to this point was riddled with uncertainty.
They lost their first two games, nearly lost after scoring 388, nearly lost after being 91/7 in a chase of 291 and nearly lost after reducing their opponent to 24/4 inside the first hour of the semi final. Yet here they are, nearly champions. In a year that has already seen them retain the Ashes in England and win the World Test Championship, who can truly count against them to complete a three-year run of world titles in each format of the game?
Even with such pedigree, Pat Cummins and Co. will concede that it is their opponents that perhaps start as favourites on Sunday, and not only because they are riding a blue wave at home. Even those who usually barrack against Indian teams will appreciate the precision and panache with which this particular version has operated, much like those utterly dominant, unbeaten campaigns put together by Australia at the turn of the millennium. And it is the thread of Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid here that is an interesting one to tug at. This captain-coach pair has made no attempts to hide just how important an attacking brand of play is and marrying that with well-defined roles and outstanding individual talent has lent India an aura of invincibility.
But Dravid and Rohit come from a show-and-tell country. Chasing excellence may be preached in Bollywood movies, but success is still measured in certificates and silverware, unfortunate as it may sound. For posterity to look back on this team to have been the most dominant ODI side assembled by this country, for Rohit to be bracketed alongside Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni, scorecards and statistics alone may not cut it. Anecdotes won’t either. Stories of the captain’s remarkable take-down of New Zealand in the semifinal, Shami’s first-ball strikes, Kohli’s 100s, his almost 100s, and Bumrah’s magic will be recalled more fondly around a fireplace if the trophy sits on the mantelpiece. India certainly don’t possess any divine right to success and the captain and coach will agree that they can only pave the path for change, which they have done and how. The best way of now scripting the perfect ending would be to play like there are no endings at all.
This World Cup didn’t quite get running until these two heavyweights made their bows in Chennai. It won’t end until these two have had their final say. The feats of the one returning empty-handed from Motera will be tinged in disappointment. An 11-kilo mass of gold and silver plating will offer the ultimate reflection for those of the other.
When: India vs Australia, World Cup Final, November 19, 14:00 IST
Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
What to expect:A theatre befitting the occasion. More than 1 lakh people, including the Prime Minister of India, will be at the biggest cricket stadium to watch sporting history being made. If the contest wasn’t enough of a pull, there’s a pre-match air show, a concert and a light show at the two drinks break respectively and another concert in the interval between the two innings.
Meanwhile, Size will be a factor into the team’s tactical plans as well with the distances to the boundaries from the centre of the pitch set to be close to 10 metres longer than at the semifinal venues of Mumbai and Kolkata. As for pitch No.5, also used in the India-Pakistan game, it sported a darkish hue, a characteristic of a black soil surface. That could mean lower bounce and some slow turn. Chasing teams have won three of the four games at this ground in this World Cup and dew has been a factor, here more than other venues. The average first innings score here in this tournament is 251.
Team News:
India
India are unlikely to change a combination that has served them for six games in a row with the exception of a late fitness issue. Ravichandran Ashwin did partake in a lengthy bowling and batting session and given his impact when the two sides met in Chennai, there could be a line of thought towards fielding him. Such a temptation though will be resisted for it’ll leave the team with a two seamer attack or a pure batter short.
Tactics & Strategy:
Travis Head was the Player of the Match in the WTC final against India earlier this year and comes into the final on the back of an all-round match-winning show in Kolkata. But Mohammed Shami has an outstanding record against left-handers bowling round the wicket in this tournament. He could be summoned early at first change against Head and David Warner.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Australia
Australia contemplated but couldn’t fit Marcus Stoinis into their XI for the semifinal with Marnus Labuschagne getting the nod. It’s a discussion that they’re likely to have again but will ultimately persist with the same team.
Tactics & Strategy:
Josh Hazlewood has dismissed Kohli five times in the last six ODIs they’ve played against each other. The short ball is a likely ploy and should have had India’s No.3 in Chennai only for Marsh to put down a catch. Expect Australia to go to that line of attack against the tournament’s highest run-getter.
Probable XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Did you know?
– Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer have added 537 partnership runs across eight stands in World Cup 2023 – the most by any pair.
– India’s bowlers have taken 95 wickets in this World Cup. Only two sides have taken more in a single edition. In 2007, Australia took 97 and in 2003 they got 96. Incidentally, those two sides went on to lift the cup by winning 11 matches in a row, a feat India are looking to emulate.
– Adam Zampa has the most wickets (17) in the middle overs of this World Cup
What they said:
“We play over here in India a lot so the noise is not something new – yeah, I think on this scale it’s probably bigger than we would have experienced before but it’s not something totally foreign to what we’ve had before. Everyone deals with it slightly differently. You see Davey [Warner] probably dancing and winning the crowd over, other guys just staying in their own bubble – yeah it should be good.” – Pat Cummins on playing a World Cup final in front of a partisan crowd of 100,000+.
“Emotionally it’s a big thing, a big occasion. Without a doubt, because whatever hard work and dreams you have, you have for this. And tomorrow, that day will be in front of us. But see, the biggest challenge for professional athletes is how you can put all this aside and focus on their work. So along with me, all the other 10 players who will play on the ground tomorrow, their focus will be more on their work for the team, rather than thinking about, this is the biggest moment of my life.” – Rohit Sharma on putting the big occasion of a World Cup final in perspective.
