Clash of the Titans: Australia vs India in the Cricket World Cup final

Probably the two most successful teams in cricket history meet in the World Cup final for the second time. The first was 20 years ago when one of the most dominant cross-format teams of all time led by Ricky Ponting dismantled India. This time, the script is flipped, with India looking dominant and Australia the plucky underdogs. Let’s take a look at where this game could be won or lost.

There are few more successful teams in sports history than the Australian men’s cricket team. Out of 12 previous World Cups, the Aussies have won the tournament five times, including three in a row in 1999, 2003 and 2007. India have run out winners twice, once back in 1983 and again in 2011.

Back in 2003, Australia were a force to be reckoned with, they featured legends of the game up and down the order, including their captain, Ricky Ponting. ‘Punter’ was given a great platform by his openers before blasting 140* as his side set the impregnable total of 369/2. India came up well short. Fortunately for India, there has been a real shift in cricket in recent years.

In recent years, Australia and India have seemed to play each other more often than almost any other matchup, which should give us a good idea of form. Unfortunately, recent results have been split, making any learnings from those games unsubstantial.

Their most recent meeting came in the early rounds of this World Cup, with India’s bowling doing the damage. Australia were rolled for just 199 after the Indian spinners ripped through their middle order. India were under serious pressure in their chase, falling to 2/3, which was nearly 2/4 if Mitch Marsh hadn’t dropped Kohli.

Despite their disastrous start, India were able to grind out the win following an incredible partnership from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Perhaps the most incredible feature of this India team is how many match-winners they have in their XI.

Australia will probably stick with the same XI that got them to the final: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

Australia’s batting lineup features four explosive players, all of whom are capable of taking the game away from anyone on their day, but to win this final, they will need to get off to a good start. This puts this onus on Warner and Head up top to use all their talent and experience, making them Australia’s batting x-factors.

There are few bowlers with a better World Cup record than Mitchell Starc. The tall left-armer is capable of picking up early wickets and dismantling a top order. Through the middle overs, Adam Zampa’s leg-spin will make him the second Australian bowling x-factor.

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj. This XI is absolutely riddled with talent from top to bottom.

Rohit Sharma’s ability to get India off to flying starts has been so important to their success this tournament. Often going at nearly 10 an over through the first 10 overs, they often win games through his aggression alone. The other x-factor is Virat Kohli, probably the best ODI batter of all time and in the form of his life. He is irrepressible and unstoppable.

There are no better seam bowlers in the world right now than Jasprit Bumrah. His ability to tear through top orders combined with his unhittable death bowling make him invaluable to India. Ravindra Jadeja has long dominated this Aussie lineup, who famously play spin poorly, making him the second x-factor for India.

Probably the only way the Aussies have a chance to win this game is by batting first and putting up a huge total. They certainly have the cattle to do so, with Head, Warner, Marsh and Maxwell all capable of scoring bulk runs at a rate of knots.

India will be favourties no matter what, but if they bat first, even a modest target will look insurmountable for the Aussies. India’s bowling is arguably even better than their batting, so they should feel confident putting the Aussie batting lineup under pressure early and often.

The Narendra Modi stadium is expected to be sold out on Sunday, making this possibly the largest crowd in sports history with 132,000 seats available. This is a real chance for India to make their mark on the world game, but the added pressure could well prove to much for the beloved stars of this team.

India look too strong on paper for this Australian team. The weight of history can only go so far, and it seems like India have been released from the shackles of pressure and expectation in a way they haven’t before. We expect India to win this game with relative ease, but perhaps some nervy moments along the way.