The selection battle between Marnus Labuschagne and Marcus Stoinis, Australia’s mission to stop Virat Kohli and the mystery of the pitch are among the hot topics surrounding the Cricket World Cup final.
Wide World of Sports dives into the match-up at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, beginning at 7.30pm on Sunday (AEDT).
Marnus or Stoinis?
Which of the vastly different cricketers will survive Australia’s selection conundrum?
Labuschagne was backed for the semi-final against the Proteas, and although the Queenslander only contributed 18 runs, he was spectacular in the field, making a host of outstanding saves.
While Labuschagne is more reliable with the bat and a superior fielder, Stoinis is more explosive with the blade and offers handy seamers.
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“Potentially, yeah,” said skipper Pat Cummins when asked if Stoinis could unseat Labuschagne.
“Those are things we’ll weigh up before every game.”
Operation ‘Stop Kohli’
India’s Virat Kohli is taking to the final with blistering form. The champion right-hander has amassed 711 runs at 101.57, more than 100 runs than South Africa’s Quinton de Kock in second, and has blasted three centuries.
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It begs the question: how can Australia stop the Indian megastar on the grandest of stages?
Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood have dismissed him five times each in one-day internationals, which is more than all other Australians.
Hazlewood is the only Australian who’s removed Kohli in this tournament, doing so when he had him caught by Marnus Labuschagne at midwicket on October 8. Unfortunately for the Australians, Kohli had already churned out 85 runs and India had already whittled down the chase to 33 runs with 75 balls to spare. Hazlewood would have sent him packing on 12 if Mitchell Marsh hadn’t bottled a simple chance.
Enthralling battle awaiting top Aussie quicks
The clash that looms between Australia’s superb opening bowlers, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, and India’s opening batters, Rohit Sharma and possibly Shubman Gill, is mouthwatering.
While Virat Kohli has dominated the tournament’s batting statistics, a strong case could be made for Sharma being a more valuable member of the home nation’s batting line-up given his destruction at the top of the order. The skipper has plundered 550 runs at the average of 55 and the strike-rate of 124.15, including one ton.
It remains unclear if Gill will feature in the final after injuring a hamstring in India’s semi-final win against New Zealand, in which he compiled a gorgeous 80 runs from 66 deliveries before retiring hurt. The young gun has registered 350 runs at 50 in this campaign.
Ishan Kishan, a left-hander with 27 ODIs to his name, is expected to replace Gill for the decider if he fails to overcome his hamstring injury.
Starc and Hazlewood inflicted carnage on the South African openers in Thursday’s semi-final, reducing the Proteas to 4-24 in the first 12 overs.
Hazlewood has bagged 14 wickets at the economy of 4.67 in this tournament, while Starc has snared 13 wickets at the economy of 6.14.
Pitch mystery
What kind of a pitch does the Narendra Modi Stadium curator have in store? Will it bounce or be low and slow, will it seam and will it spin?
Pitch talk has been rife ahead of the final after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was accused of coercing the Wankhede Stadium curator into swapping wickets for Wednesday’s semi-final against the Black Caps.
While the fixture was originally set to be played on the venue’s pitch seven, a surface unused in the tournament, the game ended up being played on pitch six, which had already been used for two matches.
The game was played on a slower, lower wicket that made the going trickier for New Zealand’s brilliant seam bowlers, with India winning the toss, electing to bat and posting 397.
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell steered clear of commenting on the questionable pitch management in a chat with Wide World of Sports, but he voiced a long-held view of his.
“I think the same as I’ve always thought; that the curator should make the pitch and the players play on it and it should be up to no one else other than the curator, the local curator,” Chappell said.
“I’ve always said about every pitch — don’t worry about World Cups, anything else — the curator makes the pitch and everybody else stays out of it.”
Packed house ready to explode
How major a factor is the 130,000-strong crowd that’s set to pile into Narendra Modi Stadium?
Never before have Pat Cummins and his men been confronted by a reception as insane as the one awaiting in Ahmedabad.
On the contrary, 11 Indians are carrying the dreams of 1.4 billion home fans.
“In sport, there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent,” Cummins said ahead of the decider.
“That’s the aim for us tomorrow. You’ve just got to embrace every part of a final.”
Ian Chappell was dismissive of talk of India being under pressure in a chat with Wide World of Sports.
“If you let it worry you it’s a problem,” said the former Australian skipper.
“But India have played 10 games and won 10, so obviously it hasn’t been having a big effect.
“Now, I’ve always believed that if you set your standards, and generally a player of that calibre will set his standards very high, then if he meets his standards he’s happy with that, if he doesn’t he’s upset how he can get better. So, if you go about it sensibly that’s the only pressure you’re putting on yourself, meeting your own standards.”