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Team India will face off against Australia in the 2023 World Cup final to be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, November 19. Arguably the two best teams in the tournament making it to the final will likely produce a riveting encounter.
The two teams last met in the World Cup final 20 years ago in Johannesburg, where Australia thrashed India convincingly to win their third world title. The Men in Blue have had a run similar to Australia in 2003, winning 10 games in a row and have a golden opportunity to end their 10-year wait for an ICC Trophy.
On such a big occasion as the final, one expects big players to step up and some incredible exciting match-ups to decide the fate of the game. On that note, let's take a look at the three match-ups that could potentially determine who will be crowned as the champions of the 2023 World Cup:
#3 Steve Smith vs Mohammed Shami
Steve Smith hasn't had the best of World Cups by his extremely high standards and India will be hoping that he doesn't turn up on the big day. However, Smith has good memories of facing India in knockouts, having smashed a hundred in the World Test Championship final earlier this year and also during the 2015 World Cup semifinal.
The Men in Blue have a trump card in Mohammed Shami to ensure that Smith doesn't get off to a great start. The star batter has scored 118 runs in 109 balls that he has faced from Shami in ODIs. However, the pacer has dismissed him as many as four times.
With Shami in incredible form, it will be interesting to see if he can better his record against Smith.
#2 Virat Kohli vs Adam Zampa
Australia's eight-match winning streak has a lot to do with the uptick in the form of their leg-spinner Adam Zampa. With 22 wickets already, Zampa is just behind Shami in the leading wicket-takers list in the 2023 World Cup.
It will be crucial for Australia to pick up wickets in the middle overs and for that, Zampa needs to have a great outing. Virat Kohli is fresh off a record 50th ODI hundred and also is the highest run-scorer in the tournament with a staggering 711 runs. The Aussies might bank on Zampa to get the better of the star batter.
Kohli and Zampa have faced off against each other enough in ODIs, with the veteran batter scoring a staggering 254 runs in 232 balls faced. However, Kohli has also been dismissed five times by Zampa, thereby making it a pretty even encounter.
#1 Rohit Sharma vs Josh Hazlewood
Rohit Sharma's quickfire starts at the top of the order have been instrumental in India posting mammoth totals as well as chasing comfortably. The fact that he didn't compromise on his brand of cricket even in the semifinal against New Zealand might send the message in the Australian camp that the Indian captain wasn't going to get bogged down by the occasion.
However, Josh Hazlewood has been the only bowler in the tournament who has dismissed Rohit for a duck. While this was the only instance of him getting the better of the veteran opener in ODIs, Australia will believe Hazlewood can repeat what he did in the group stage and strike early.
India, on the other hand, need Rohit Sharma to give them another blistering start in such a big game.
