Rohit Sharma’s undefeated India will look to end a 10-year global title drought in front of 130,000 fans in the World Cup final against five-time champions Australia on Sunday.
India have racked up 10 straight wins at the tournament as they seek a third World Cup triumph 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, the hosts are up against an Australian side who have won eight matches in a row and will be playing in their eighth World Cup final.
Here AFP gives the factfile of India and Australia
Indian cricket team factfile
WORLD RANKING: 1
Path to the final
Group stage
October 8: bt Australia by 6 wickets at Chennai
October 11: bt Afghanistan by 8 wickets at New Delhi
October 14: bt Pakistan by 7 wickets at Ahmedabad
October 19: bt Bangladesh by 7 wickets at Pune
October 22: bt New Zealand by 4 wickets at Dharamsala
October 29: bt England by 100 runs at Lucknow
November 2: bt Sri Lanka by 302 runs at Mumbai
November 5: bt South Africa by 243 runs at Kolkata
November 12: bt Netherlands by 160 runs at Bengaluru
Semifinal: November 15: bt New Zealand by 70 runs at Mumbai
Squad
Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (replaced by Prasidh Krishna in squad after injury), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav
LEADING RUN-SCORER IN SQUAD
Virat Kohli: 13,794 runs; highest score 183; average 58.69; Hundreds 50, Fifties 71
LEADING RUN-SCORER AT 2023 WORLD CUP
Virat Kohli: 711 runs; highest score 117; average 101.57; Hundreds 3, Fifties 5
LEADING WICKET-TAKER IN SQUAD
Ravindra Jadeja: 220 wickets; best bowling 5-33; average 35.87
LEADING WICKET-TAKER AT 2023 WORLD CUP
Mohammad Shami: 23 wickets; best bowling 7-57; average 9.13
PREVIOUS WORLD CUP APPEARANCES
1975: Group stage
1979: Group stage
1983: Champions
1987: Semifinals
1991: Round-robin stage
1996: Semifinals
1999: Super Six
2003: Runners-up
2007: Group stage
2011: Champions
2015: Semifinals
2019: Semifinals
Australia cricket team factfile
WORLD RANKING: 2
Path to the final
Group stage
October 8: lost to India by 6 wickets at Chennai
October 12: lost to South Africa by 134 runs at Lucknow
October 16: bt Sri Lanka by 5 wickets at Lucknow
October 20: bt Pakistan by 62 runs at Bengaluru
October 25: bt Netherlands by 309 runs at New Delhi
October 28: bt New Zealand by 5 runs at Dharamsala
November 4: bt England by 33 runs at Ahmedabad
November 7: bt Afghanistan by 3 wickets at Mumbai
November 11: bt Bangladesh by 8 wickets at Pune
Semifinal: November 16: bt South Africa by 3 wickets at Kolkata
Squad
Pat Cummins (captain), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis (wkt), Sean Abbott, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.
LEADING RUN-SCORER IN SQUAD
David Warner: 6,925 runs; highest score 179; average 45.55; Hundreds 22; Fifties 33
LEADING RUN-SCORER AT 2023 WORLD CUP
David Warner: 528 runs; highest score 163; average 52.80; Hundreds 2; Fifties 2
LEADING WICKET-TAKER IN SQUAD
Mitchell Starc: 233 wickets; best bowling 6-28; average 23.02
LEADING WICKET-TAKER AT 2023 WORLD CUP
Adam Zampa: 22 wickets; best bowling 4-8; average 21.40
PREVIOUS WORLD CUP APPEARANCES -
1975: Runners-up
1979: Group stage
1983: Group stage
1987: Champions
1992: Round-robin stage
1996: Runners-up
1999: Champions
2003: Champions
2007: Champions
2011: Quarterfinals
2015: Champions
2019: Semifinals
Previous winners of the Cricket World Cup
1975: West Indies
1979: West Indies
1983: India
1987: Australia
1992: Pakistan
1996: Sri Lanka
1999: Australia
2003: Australia
2007: Australia
2011: India
2015: Australia
2019: England
