2023 ODI World Cup Final: Everything you need to know about India vs. Australia
ft. Upcoming ICC board meeting, Pakistan name Wahab Riaz chief selector
And then there were two.
India have been the best team in the tournament by quite a significant margin while Australia has scratched, clawed, and used their institutional knowledge of winning to a max (pun intended) in reaching the final.
It should make for a captivating final, India one win away from going a perfect 11-for-11 while Australia will look to make sure their own undefeated runs in 2003 and 2007 aren’t matched.
Here’s a look at everything you need to know ahead of the final:
AUSTRALIA’S JOURNEY
This may be a controversial take, but this is one of the less impressive runs to a final from an overall team performance standpoint but one of the most impressive runs from a pure grit, spirit, and tenacity perspective.
Australia are not a side firing on all cylinders and captain Pat Cummins has even commented on multiple occasions that they have yet to put together a complete team performance.
Each of Afghanistan, New Zealand, and Pakistan were on course to defeat Australia in the group stage but what has been most impressive about the Aussies is the manner in which they have just found a way to hang on and win out at the end. You could even argue they were in serious danger against Sri Lanka with the islanders at 165/2 in 27.5 overs before collapsing to 209 all out less than 16 overs later. Lose that match and Australia would have started the tournament 0-3.
Marcus Stoinis unexpectedly turned the match around against Pakistan with the ball, a brilliant Mitchell Starc final over was the difference against New Zealand, and Glenn Maxwell resurrected Australia from the dead against Afghanistan. Now they come into the final having won eight straight on the back of having done what seemed impossible after the group stage, beat South Africa after they batted first.
In typical Maxwell fashion, he had the 201* against Afghanistan and scored the fastest World Cup hundred ever against Netherlands but has 91 runs in the other six matches at an average of 18.20. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa and Travis Head have all blown hot and cold. Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne have been underwhelming. David Warner, Mitch Marsh, and Josh Hazlewood have been the standout performers in terms of consistency.
If they can win eight straight being patchy, imagine what Australia’s capable of with a complete team performance.
INDIA’S JOURNEY
India came in with questions over Rohit Sharma’s approach at the top, Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer’s long layoffs due to back injuries, KL Rahul’s extended absence due to a torn quadriceps, their batting lacking flexibility because there was no left-hander in the top six, and no left-arm seam option. Then, what was a neon green tick in Shubman Gill as their highest run-scorer in ODIs in 2023 picked up dengue fever just before the tournament. Another checkmark in Hardik Pandya injured his left ankle in the third match and was ruled out the rest of the way.
When you consider all of that, India’s dominant with a capital D run through 10 matches becomes that much more impressive. Sharma has belted every opening bowler like they stole his secret stash of vada pav and Bumrah looks the best fast bowler in the world once again. Rahul has been imperious at No. 5 playing the role of consolidator or finisher with equal aplomb, and Iyer has rewarded his captain’s unshakeable faith with sumptuous batting performances at No. 4.
Mohammed Shami only came into the side after Shardul Thakur failed to impress in the opening two matches and he is now both this tournament’s leading wicket-taker and India’s all-time leading World Cup wicket taker. Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav have both brilliant with the ball while the former has had crucial knocks with the bat and done his usual damage in the field, too. I will lay out one challenge for my favourite player ahead of the final, though, he’s yet to effect a run out.
Then there’s the king. Virat Kohli is the tournament’s leading run scorer with an all-time single tournament record of 711 runs with three hundreds and five fifties at an average of 101.57. He goes into the final without the burden of chasing Sachin Tendulkar after passing the great man with his 50th century in the semi against New Zealand. He needed to own this tournament and he has after averaging 46.81 in 26 ODI World Cup matches with two hundreds and six fifties coming in.
India have only been pushed twice, both times by New Zealand, and have earned the tag of favourites entering the final with 10 wins out of 10. It’s time to finish the job.
MATCHUPS
INDIA. Bat rtg: 327.11 (2nd), Bwl rtg: 211.97 (1st), Net rtg: +115.54 (1st).
AUSTRALIA. Bat rtg: 307.12 (4th), Bwl rtg: 286.57 (4th), Net rtg: +20.55 (4th).
As far as batting templates are concerned, these are two of the most aggressive P1 batting teams in the tournament. Something will have to give, though, as these are also the two most economical bowling sides in P1.
Of the 33 times Rohit Sharma has been dismissed by left-arm pace bowlers, 22 have come in the first 10 overs. Watch out for the matchup between him and Mitchell Starc. In this tournament, Sharma has scored with ease against the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Trent Boult, and Marco Jansen but was dismissed early by Sri Lanka’s Dilshan Madushanka.
On the other side, David Warner is yet to be dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah or Mohammed Siraj in ODIs while Travis Head has had his share of success against both those bowlers as well. Bumrah has dismissed Head in ODIs once, but if India can’t pick up a wicket early, look for Sharma to turn to Mohammed Shami as early as he did against New Zealand. In 52 balls to left-handers this tournament, Shami has picked up a mind boggling eight wickets. Kuldeep Yadav has also had his share of success against Warner.
Australia will rely primarily on Josh Hazlewood to dismiss Virat Kohli, and Adam Zampa if that fails. Hazlewood has dismissed Kohli five times in 88 balls in ODIs and it would be even fewer balls if Mitch Marsh didn’t drop that catching opportunity in the first meeting between these two sides at this tournament. Regardless of which pace bowler is bowling, watch for Australia to get Kohli pulling from outside off stump. It’s safe to say that Shreyas Iyer will also be targeted with short stuff. Zampa has dismissed Kohli eight times in 29 international matches and the leggie has caused Kohli problems with the one that comes back in.
P2 is where India have created their biggest advantage, Kohli usually controlling the innings alongside Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul with the bat while Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shami wreak havoc with the ball. When it comes to Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, India will depend a great deal on Jadeja. The Indian’s left-arm orthodox has bamboozled Smith 11 times in international cricket including five times in 2023 alone and has also sent Labuschagne back eight times. He dismissed Smith with one of the balls of the tournament during the group phase.
Kuldeep Yadav will be India’s best option against Glenn Maxwell, the explosive right-hander having been dismissed 14 times by left-arm wrist spinners in 49 innings where he has faced that bowler type. Fans watching this tournament may remember both Yadav and South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi dismissing him with shorter pitched balls that landed around off stump and spun back in to hit leg stump. Maxwell attempted wild pull shots on both occasions.
You may be confused by seeing that India only gives up 25 runs in the final phase, but that’s because they have only bowled an average of six overs in that phase and have bowled the opposition out well within the 50 overs on regular occasion. It was hard to charge India’s hitting in this phase early in the tournament because they were chasing so often but in their last four innings, they have amassed 93/4, 87/2, 126/1, and 110/3 in the P3 phase. Australia put up a mammoth 131 runs off the last 10 overs against the Netherlands and 96 against New Zealand when piling up 388 on a batting paradise, but outside of that their highest tally is 70/6 against Pakistan and 66/5 against England.
Australia will tell themselves they need to win P2 to beat India while India will be saying avoid a major deficit in P1 and do what you’ve done all tournament the rest of the way.
VENUE: Ahmedabad.
There have been four matches in Ahmedabad this World Cup:
England 282/9 (50 overs). New Zealand 283/1 (36.2 overs).
Pakistan 191/10 (42.5 overs). India 192/3 (30.3 overs).
Australia 286/10 (49.3 overs). England 253/10 (48.1 overs).
Afghanistan 244/10 (50 overs). South Africa 247/5 (47.3 overs).
The pitch curators in Ahmedabad have three ways of laying the surface. One is with black soil that aids fast bowlers, another is with red soil that aids spinners, and the final option is a mixture of both. Two pitches will be ready for use, one to the left of centre and one to the right of centre.
I think there is a chance Ravichandran Ashwin comes into the side for Mohammed Siraj if the pitch isn’t completely black soil. Siraj hasn’t had a great tournament while you might remember that Ashwin was picked for the group phase match against Australia. Ashwin is always a threat against left-handers and the Aussies have two of them at the very top of the order. He would offer extra meat to the batting as well. However, it was easier to play Ashwin in that first match because you still had Hardik Pandya providing a third seaming option.
If not for England’s abysmal batting in this tournament, it would have been 4/4 for the chasing side at this venue. The ball seems to come onto the bat better under the lights and so I do think it will be an advantage for the side batting second unless the curators have a completely red soil pitch that significantly deteriorates as the match progresses.
PROBABLE XI’s
India: Rohit Sharma ©, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
WORLD CUP HISTORY
Sunday’s battle will be the 14th ODI World Cup meeting between these two sides. Australia leads the head-to-head 8-5 and 2-1 in knockouts. Australia won five straight matches between 1992 and 2003 but India has recent history on its side having won three of the last four including a group stage meeting earlier in this World Cup. The side batting first has won on 10 of 13 occasions.
Their most recent knockout encounter was in 2015, when Australia piled up 328/7 batting first before bowling India out for 233. There are 7 Australians and 5 Indians who remain from the 2015 squads. Can you name them? I’ll provide the answers a bit further down.
Below is each result with the knockouts in bold:
Australia defeated India by 162 runs in the 1983 World Cup group stage.
POM: Greg Chappell, 110(131)India defeated Australia by 118 runs in the 1983 World Cup group stage.
POM: Roger Binny, 21(32) & 8-2-29-4Australia defeated India by 1 run in the 1987 World Cup group stage.
POM: Geoff Marsh, 110(141).India defeated Australia by 56 runs in the 1987 World Cup group stage.
POM: Mohammad Azharuddin, 54(45) & 3.5-0-19-3.Australia defeated India by 1 run in the 1992 World Cup group stage.
POM: Dean Jones, 90(108).Australia defeated India by 16 runs in the 1996 World Cup group stage.
POM: Mark Waugh, 126(135) & 10-0-44-1.
Australia defeated India by 77 runs in the 1999 World Cup group stage.
POM: Glenn McGrath, 10-1-34-3.Australia defeated India by 9 wickets in the 2003 World Cup group stage.
POM: Jason Gillespie, 10-2-13-3.Australia defeated India by 125 runs in the 2003 World Cup final.
POM: Ricky Ponting, 140*(121).India defeated Australia by 5 wickets in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinals.
POM: Yuvraj Singh, 10-0-44-2 & 57*(65).Australia defeated India by 95 runs in the 2015 World Cup semifinals.
POM: Steve Smith, 105(93).India defeated Australia by 36 runs in the 2019 World Cup group stage.
POM: Shikhar Dhawan, 117(109).India defeated Australia by 6 wickets in the 2023 World Cup group stage.
POM: KL Rahul, 97*(115).
David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood remain from that Australian squad while Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, and Ravichandran Ashwin are still present for India.
SLIP CATCHING
The ICC is set for its next board meeting. Among the topics to be discussed:
SLC’s board suspension and whether Sri Lanka can host the U19 World Cup in January.
Future of ODI cricket and the possible revival of the ODI Super League.
High-performance programme revival for top Associate nations.
Funding from revenue distribution model set aside to create reserves.
Formalizing cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics and qualification pathways.
Former national team left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz has been named as Pakistan’s new chief selector. Mohammad Hafeez will be both the team’s new team director and head coach.
Neil Wagner will replace Matt Henry in New Zealand’s Test squad to face Bangladesh. Henry is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained at the World Cup.