Australia 'ready for anything India throw at us' in final
By AFP
November 18, 2023 01:28 PM
Australia are adamant they will be "ready for anything" India throw at them in the Cricket World Cup final after controversy hit the tournament in a 'pitch switch' row.
India have been the form team of the World Cup, winning all 10 games on their way to Sunday's showpiece match in Ahmedabad.
But there was controversy in the lead-up to their 70-run semi-final in over New Zealand in Mumbai after it emerged the game was being played on a Wankhede Stadium pitch already used twice before during the tournament rather than a freshly-prepared surface.
"No doubt playing on your own wicket in your own country has some advantages," Australia captain Pat Cummins told a pre-match press conference on Saturday. "But we've played a lot of cricket over here."
"We'll be ready in terms of anything they'll throw at us...we'll make sure we have some plans."
A used pitch had no major bearing on the Mumbai semi-final, with more than 700 runs scored in the game.
Cummins, asked if he had already seen the pitch for the final, replied: "Yeah, just had a look. It looked pretty firm...I think Pakistan played someone there."
India and arch-rivals Pakistan clashed in Ahmedabad four weeks ago.
The hosts cruised to victory by seven wickets after winning the toss and dismissing their opponents for just 191.
Used pitches generally favour spinners, with slow bowling a key component of a five-man India attack where Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to bowl 20 of their 50 overs on Sunday.
Australia have already won the World Cup a record five times and 30-year-old fast bowler Cummins, a member of the victorious 2015 side, was excited by having the opportunity to emulate the likes of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting by leading the team to glory on Sunday.
"It would be huge," he said. "We were all kids not too long ago, watching some of those great teams win the 1999, 2003, 2007 World Cups."
He added: "To be captain would be an absolute privilege...it'd be awesome.
"It (the World Cup) has got the longest history of a world event where all the teams compete.
"You only get a shot at it every four years. So even if you have a long career, you might only play in two of these events. 2015 is still a career highlight for me, but I think tomorrow, if we win, might pip it."
Head-to-head record
Last 10 meetings:
27/11/2020: Sydney - Australia won by 66 runs
29/11/2020: Sydney - Australia won by 51 runs
02/12/2020: Canberra - India won by 13 runs
17/03/2023: Mumbai - India won by 5 wickets
19/03/2023: Visakhapatnam - Australia won by 10 wickets
22/03/2023: Kolkata - Australia won by 21 runs
22/09/2023: Mohali - India won by 5 wickets
24/09/2023: Indore - India won by 99 runs
27/09/2023: Rajkot - Australia won by 56 runs
08/10/2023: Chennai - India won by 6 wickets
Overall:
India: 57 wins
Australia: 83 wins
Tied: 0
No Result: 10
Australia factfile
- WORLD RANKING -
2
- PATH TO THE FINAL -
Group stage
Oct 08: lost to India by 6 wickets at Chennai
Oct 12: lost to South Africa by 134 runs at Lucknow
Oct 16: bt Sri Lanka by 5 wickets at Lucknow
Oct 20: bt Pakistan by 62 runs at Bengaluru
Oct 25: bt Netherlands by 309 runs at New Delhi
Oct 28: bt New Zealand by 5 runs at Dharamsala
Nov 04: bt England by 33 runs at Ahmedabad
Nov 07: bt Afghanistan by 3 wickets at Mumbai
Nov 11: bt Bangladesh by 8 wickets at Pune
Semi-final
Nov 16: bt South Africa by 3 wickets at Kolkata
- SQUAD -
Pat Cummins (captain), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis (wkt), Sean Abbott, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.
- LEADING RUN-SCORER IN SQUAD -
David Warner: 6,925 runs; highest score 179; average 45.55; Hundreds 22; Fifties 33
- LEADING RUN-SCORER AT 2023 WORLD CUP -
David Warner: 528 runs; highest score 163; average 52.80; Hundreds 2; Fifties 2
- LEADING WICKET-TAKER IN SQUAD -
Mitchell Starc: 233 wickets; best bowling 6-28; average 23.02
- LEADING WICKET-TAKER AT 2023 WORLD CUP -
Adam Zampa: 22 wickets; best bowling 4-8; average 21.40
- PREVIOUS WORLD CUP APPEARANCES -
1975: Runners-up
1979: Group stage
1983: Group stage
1987: Champions
1992: Round-robin stage
1996: Runners-up
1999: Champions
2003: Champions
2007: Champions
2011: Quarter-finals
2015: Champions
2019: Semi-finals
India factfile
- WORLD RANKING -
1
- PATH TO THE FINAL -
Group stage
Oct 08: bt Australia by 6 wickets at Chennai
Oct 11: bt Afghanistan by 8 wickets at New Delhi
Oct 14: bt Pakistan by 7 wickets at Ahmedabad
Oct 19: bt Bangladesh by 7 wickets at Pune
Oct 22: bt New Zealand by 4 wickets at Dharamsala
Oct 29: bt England by 100 runs at Lucknow
Nov 02: bt Sri Lanka by 302 runs at Mumbai
Nov 05: bt South Africa by 243 runs at Kolkata
Nov 12: bt Netherlands by 160 runs at Bengaluru
Semi-final
Nov 15: bt New Zealand by 70 runs at Mumbai
- SQUAD -
Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (replaced by Prasidh Krishna in squad after injury), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav
- LEADING RUN-SCORER IN SQUAD -
Virat Kohli: 13,794 runs; highest score 183; average 58.69; Hundreds 50, Fifties 71
- LEADING RUN-SCORER AT 2023 WORLD CUP -
Virat Kohli: 711 runs; highest score 117; average 101.57; Hundreds 3, Fifties 5
- LEADING WICKET-TAKER IN SQUAD -
Ravindra Jadeja: 220 wickets; best bowling 5-33; average 35.87
- LEADING WICKET-TAKER AT 2023 WORLD CUP -
Mohammad Shami: 23 wickets; best bowling 7-57; average 9.13
- PREVIOUS WORLD CUP APPEARANCES -
1975: Group stage
1979: Group stage
1983: Champions
1987: Semi-finals
1991: Round-robin stage
1996: Semi-finals
1999: Super Six
2003: Runners-up
2007: Group stage
2011: Champions
2015: Semi-finals
2019: Semi-finals