Posted in Foreign News

Rohit says India ready for ‘pressure’ in the World Cup final with Australia

   November 18, 2023
Rohit says India ready for ‘pressure’ in the World Cup final with Australia


WHO: India vs Australia
When: Sunday, November 19, 2023, 2:00 p.m. (08:30 GMT)
Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, India

India captain Rohit Sharma insists there are “emotions” and “pressure” as the Cricket World Cup hosts will not be on his side in Sunday’s final.

India have long been heavy favorites in the tournament and with a perfect ten so far in this edition, nothing has changed ahead of the showdown against Australia in Ahmedabad.

It would be a third World Championship for India, building on the home win in 2011 that sparked an outpouring of joy across the country of 1.5 billion people.

“Emotionally it’s a really big thing,” Rohit said before the final.

“Leading up to every game we’ve been pretty calm and pretty relaxed about what we want to do because we know what it’s like outside of our environment.

“The expectations and the pressure, the criticism and everything, so it’s important that we stick to our strengths and stick to what we want to achieve as a team.

“Along with me and all the other 10 players who will be playing on the floor, their focus will be more on their work for the team rather than thinking about ‘this is the biggest moment of my life’.”

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad holds 130,000 spectators and is the largest cricket ground in the world.

The 2011 final was held at the Wankhede Stadium Mumbai, where MS Dhoni lifted the trophy after a win over co-hosts Sri Lanka.

Apart from this win, India have underperformed since their final defeat to Australia in the 2003 World Cup.

India coach Rahul Dravid was on the losing side that day and Rohit says they want to make amends for Dravid, who took part in the failed 2007 season and then lost his place until the 2011 win.

“His role was immense,” Rohit said about the team’s coach. “Obviously what he has done for Indian cricket is massive. And he also feels like he wants to be part of this big event. It’s up to us to do it for him.”

It would have been a monumental task for anyone facing India in the final.

However, if there is one team that will defy the odds, it is five-time winners Australia.

In fact, Indian spinner Jayant Yadav, who did not make the squad, told Al Jazeera before the tournament that if anyone could stop India, it would be the team under.

“There is nothing more satisfying than hearing a large crowd fall silent.”

What awaits Australia is pretty clear and captain Pat Cummins says his team must “embrace” the challenge of facing their opponents, a 130,000-plus capacity Ahmedabad Stadium and the will of 1.5 billion people.

“You have to deal with it, the audience is obviously going to be very one-sided,” Cummins said.

“There is nothing more satisfying in sport either [as an opposition player] than to hear a large crowd fall silent, and that is our goal.

“You just have to embrace every part of it, every part of a final – you know there’s going to be noise, more people and more interest leading up to it and you just can’t get overwhelmed.

“You have to be ready, you have to love it and just know that whatever happens, it’s okay, but you just want to end the day with no regrets.”

The 30-year-old right-arm sailor was urgently needed with the bat, even in the Semi-final against South Africa.

Facing the hosts in the final doesn’t scare Cummins and his team as most of them play alongside the Indian players in the Indian Premier League.

“We play a lot here in India, so the noise is nothing new,” he said.

“At this scale it is probably larger than we would have experienced before, but it is not something completely alien.

“Everyone deals with it a little differently – see Davey [Warner] Probably dancing and winning over the audience, others just staying in their own bubble – that should be good.”

Australian legend Jason Gillespie told Al Jazeera in his preview of the final that while India were a great team, they were still “ready to go“.

The hosts have won all 10 matches so far, including their opening game against Australia in which they recovered from the loss of three early wickets to reach 200 with just two runs on the board.

“It’s going to be great,” Cummins said. “They played really well – they are undefeated this tournament.

“But we know that in the best case scenario we can give them a good chance.”

Australia beat India at the World Test Championship in England earlier this year ahead of their Ashes tour, retaining the series with a draw.

This would be a remarkable hat-trick for Australia and even a double against India.

In return, the disappointment of the Test Championship final at the Oval would be erased for India – probably one and a half billion times.

head to head

India have won 57 of the ODI meetings between these teams while Australia have claimed 83 victories.

The most famous was the 2003 final in Johannesburg, which the Aussies won by 125 runs.

The last 10 matches are evenly split, but the hosts have won the group stage of this year’s tournament.

Form

Both teams are now flying at the World Cup. Australia bounced back from defeats in their first two games to win eight straight.

India are in the perfect ten at the tournament so far – but will the final be their banana skin?

India: WWWWW

Australia: WWWWW

Indian team news

India will only make a change if there is a late injury. It would be tempting for the hosts to rely on spinner Ravi Ashwin were it not for the injury that kept Hardik Pandya out of the second half of the World Cup.

Without the all-rounder to balance the team, India will have no option but to stick with the three seamers who have served them so well since Pandya limped out in the third game of the tournament.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (week), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

Australian team news

Australia are likely to remain unchanged, but it is possible they will opt for Marcus Stoinis if they decide to bring in an additional all-rounder and remove one of the recognized batsmen.

Probable XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (week), Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood





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