Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India]: Amid deafening noise at a full house at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Australia skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bowl first against India in the World Cup final on Sunday.
The Indian team waltzed into the final unbeaten after playing 10 games, chasing five of the matches while defending totals in five.
On the other hand, Australia, after losing two games on the bounce at the start of the tournament, recovered to win eight consecutive matches thereafter to reach the final.
“We are gonna have a bowl first. Looks like a dry wicket. Dew is a factor. It gets better to bat on. Tough start to the tournament, haven’t really put a foot wrong ever since. It’s all set up perfectly. We’ve played these guys a lot. Same team as the semi-final,” Australia skipper Pat Cummins said after calling correctly at the toss.
India skipper Rohit Sharma said at the toss, “I would have batted first. Looks a good pitch, big game, put runs on the board. It’s going to be amazing, everytime we play here,the crowd come out in large numbers.
The biggest occasion in the cricketing event. We have to stay nice and calm. It’s a dream come true to be captaining the team in the final. I know what lies in front of us. We need to play well and get the result.”
Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis(w), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins(c), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.