Certified Legendary Thread 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Game 48 The Final India v Australia 19/11 1900hrs @ Narendra Modi Stadium

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India from, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia from, Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.
 

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Big game coming up.

India deserved favourites, they have been the best team in the comp, undefeated, and have a great line up both batting and bowling. A win would cap off a fine tournament and whilst making it four in a row for host nations, I will not have a bar of any "but home ground/pitch advantage"; they have played very well and would thoroughly deserve it.

Australia have been a bit scratchy but are there now. A win would mean that Australia has defeated every team at the WC, so you couldn't really take anything away from them or call it a lucky if they do get the chocolates. A great opportunity staring them in the face, and it would cap off a great 2023.

Come on Aussies, let's do it for us, and to piss Narendra off - fancy being so full of yourself that you get a stadium named after yourself whilst incumbent PM.
 
Now to wait for the game

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India losing the final after 10 straight wins in the tournament would be so juicy.

I'm pretty sure they would have preferred not to be facing us given our history in the World Cup, that we are the last team to beat them in ODIs (on their home turf, no less) and the scare we gave them in our first game when we had them 3/2.

That said, they are clearly the better side, have Kohli in sparkling form, are playing at home and will even be the beneficiary of shameless pitch doctoring no doubt.
 
As for selection, I think you need to pick a side assuming most players will but in a performance that is in their upper-quartile, because that is what it will take to win.

So for example, whilst Starc has the potential to go for 15-25 more than he should, he can also be a match-winner, especially early on.
Likewise players like Zampa, Smith, etc.
 
Will be interesting to see what pitch they offer up, too much spin could make it a crapshoot and bring us into the game, Maxwell and Head have proven effective as finger spinners. Will again be a massive toss to win/lose, intriguing contest.

Exactly what happened in one of the tests earlier this year. They genuinely took the spinning deck way too far and nullified their biggest advantage. Wouldn't be the worst thing for us to rock up on Sunday and see something similar.

I think we'll be better off batting first, but honestly, we are not as good a team and they are on home soil. We're solid outsiders, but unless we * up a tap-in victory I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

Prediction - If India bat first, they'll score 330ish and win by about 50 runs. If we bat first, we'll score 300ish and get passed 5 or 6 down around the 45th over.
 
I think if India wanted a favourable pitch then a road would be their best bet, backing their better batters to just be too good over 50 overs.
But that could backfire if the Aussies bat first with guys like Warner, Marsh, Head, and Maxwell. We could put up 330+ and I don't care how good you are, it's rare that totals that big get chased down.
 

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