G. KRISHNAN
AHMEDABAD: The stage is set for the biggest prize in cricket. The largest cricket stadium in the world, the Narendra Modi Stadium is in all readiness to host the thirteenth ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final on Sunday. It is the repeat of the 2003 final in which Ricky Ponting’s Australia crushed Sourav Ganguly’s India at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Rohit Sharma’s Indian team may not be giving too much importance to what Australia did to his seniors 20 and a half years ago. The current team is only looking at Sunday’s final against Pat Cummins’ Australia. They are staying in the present and ready to face whatever they are up against.
The Indian team has had a remarkable run in this World Cup, winning by handsome margins the nine league matches and also the semifinal against New Zealand, which was a repeat of the 2019 semifinal. With one repeat match successfully out of the way, India will look to see Australia also off and lift their third World Cup title on Sunday night.
This Indian team led by Rohit Sharma is in a best position to lift the World Cup. Not only because they are the hosts and have the support of the almost full Narendra Modi Stadium but also for the fact that they have been playing a fearless brand of cricket that has also made the legendary Sachin Tendulkar watch with admiration.
“Our team is playing a different brand of cricket altogether. I really enjoy this brand of cricket. It is a joy to watch them play. Extremely proud and happy with the way we have played in the tournament. They know what to do, what the country is expecting from them,” Tendulkar, who is also the global ambassador of the ICC, said at the start of this month.
India has totally outplayed all their nine opponents in this World Cup including Sunday’s final opponents, Australia. India began their World Cup campaign against Australia, winning a low-scoring match in Chennai by six wickets. There is no reason why India cannot repeat this performance and end the tournament with a global title, which would be their first World Cup win since 2011 and their first ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions Trophy.
Rohit Sharma has led the team brilliantly, giving the team blazing starts, sharing magnificent partnerships with Shubman Gill for the first wicket. Scoring 550 runs with one hundred and three fifties, Rohit has scored at a fast rate, hitting 21 out of his 28 sixes in this World Cup in the Power Play. This has upset the opposition bowlers and in turn given his batsmen to strengthen the position and post big totals or carry out the chase successfully.
India have three batsmen among the top six in the leading run-getters’ list with Virat Kohli, who has scored three centuries in this tournament leading the way with 711 runs with three centuries and five fifties. Shreyas Iyer is not to be left behind with 526 runs with two centuries and three fifties. Iyer’s six-hitting abilities have been outstanding and the ease with which he clears the boundaries are a delight to watch. Iyer has scored two consecutive hundreds before coming here and also has smashed 24 sixes, the second most in this tournament after Rohit (28).
The Indian bowling has complemented their batsmen with Md Shami emerging the most successful bowler with 23 wickets followed by Australia’s Adam Zampa, 22. The Indian bowling has been regarded as the best for ages with Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (18), Md Siraj (13) sharing a majority of the wickets. Chip in Hardik Pandya’s 5, Shardul Thakur (2) and Virat Kohli (1) and the speedsters have taken a total of 62 wickets while the spinners led by Ravindra Jadeja (16) and Kuldeep Yadav (15) have total of 33 wickets.
Australia have entered their eighth final, winning five titles previously. After losing their first two matches, they have been on a winning streak, winning eight consecutive matches. David Warner starting to score big with Mitchell Marsh lending adequate support and Glenn Maxwell smashing the fastest century and the only double century have made Australia a strong contender for the title.
Their leg-spinner Adam Zampa is the second highest wicket-taker with 22 sticks but it is their medium-pacers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins who have combined to take 40 wickets between them who have done the damage in the Power Play and the end overs.
India are wary of what the Aussies are capable of doing. Captain Rohit Sharma said on Saturday: “Australia have won eight out of eight. They have played good cricket and both the teams deserve to be in the final. We know what Australia can do. They are a very complete side. We want to focus on what we want to do. We don’t want to worry about what kind of form they are in. Rather, we focus on our cricket and plans.”
The final will be played on the same pitch on which India defeated Pakistan in a low-scoring affair on October 14. Rohit said that the pitch now has slightly more grass on it whereas it was drier against Pakistan. “From my understanding, the pitch for the final is going to be on a slower side. We’ll see the pitch tomorrow and assess. The temperature has dropped a bit as well. I don’t know how much of a factor the dew will be. I don’t think toss will play a big role.”
ENDS
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