After more than a month of fascinating encounters in cricket’s showpiece event, it now comes down to one match as India and Australia confront each other in a high-octane finale of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
The five-time champions Australia have made a monumental turnaround. After losing their first two matches, the Aussies are currently in an eight-match winning run and have qualified for their eighth final in their history.
On the other hand, India's supremacy in this tournament has been undisputed. With 10 wins out of 10 matches, Rohit Sharma and his troops are currently flying and it promises to be an enticing encounter between these two old foes for the championship.
The hosts are firm favourites to clinch their third World Cup title to add to their 1983 and 2011 victories, the last of which came on home soil.
Despite the country's cricket riches, India are without a major international title since the 2013 Champions Trophy and expectations in the cricket-crazy nation of 1.4 billion people have reached fever pitch.
However, Australia have a perfect record against India in the finals of the ICC events. Apart from winning the 2003 World Cup final, Australia also beat India in the ICC World Test Championships final earlier this year.
Australia are also the record five-time ODI World Cup champions, having won the trophies in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. Meanwhile, India won the titles in 1983 and 2011.
If we talk about India, the Men in Blue got off to a dream start in the tournament, securing clinical wins over Australia and Afghanistan. However, they peaked during the all-important clash against Pakistan, where they crushed their arch-rivals by seven wickets.
Losing Hardik Pandya due to an ankle injury was a blessing in disguise for India, allowing them to include Mohammed Shami in the playing XI. Since then, the ace speedster has wreaked havoc, scalping 23 wickets in just six outings in the tournament.
Besides Shami's exploits, what has worked for India is the accuracy of Jasprit Bumrah, who has choked the opposition in the power play. In the batting department, absolutely nothing has gone wrong for India, with Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer coming out with all guns blazing.
The only thing India should avoid in this game is a top order collapse, as their number six batter, Suryakumar Yadav, doesn't give the assurance of innings building in an ODI game. Also, they have only five bowling options, so God forbid, if any bowler has an off day, they have to carry on with him for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, Australia will rely on the dynamism of Travis Head, David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, as they can rattle any bowling attack on a given day. However, if they lose their top order, the five-time champions could collapse, as Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne have been struggling with form.
Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis need a platform to express themselves. If India get some quick wickets, they can exploit Australia's vulnerable middle order.
On the contrary, the Aussie bowling attack could be at par with its Indian counterpart, with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa performing exceedingly in the competition. Also, having two quality bowling reserves in Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell is an advantage for them, as they can deliver a few good overs.