India vs Australia Final, World Cup 2023: Pat Cuumins-led Australian team will be aiming to stun the home team India as well as the home crowd in Ahmedabad to lift their record sixth World Cup title on Sunday, November 19.
India and Australia are set to lock horns in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
While Australia continue to dominate things and keep their legacy going in the ICC tournaments, they are keen to silence the loyal and loud crowd who will be backing and cheering for their team India.
Notably, India have received immense support from the crowd at every venue in every match they have played in the tournament so far and are expected to get only more when they take the field in the stadium with a seating capacity of more than one lakh people.
Cummins, who has led the Aussie team brilliantly to their eighth World Cup final, said that the best way to overcome a challenge like that was to embrace it.
"The crowd's obviously going to be very one-sided but in sport, there's nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent and that's the aim for us tomorrow," he told reporters on Saturday.
"You've just got to embrace every part of a final ... you know in the lead-up there's going to be noise and more people and interest and you just can't get overwhelmed."
Beaten comprehensively by India in their opener, Australia strung together eight wins in a row to make the final against India, who have a perfect 10-0 record in the tournament.
"We know it's going to be a packed house. There's going to be 130,000 fans here supporting India. So it's going to be awesome," Cummins said.
"They've been playing really well, undefeated this tournament. But we know at our best we can give them a good shake."
Australia had a disappointing start to their campaign as they lost the first matches but bounced back magnificently to finish in the top four.
They defeated South Africa by three wickets in the semi-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the Cummins-led side will be aiming to add more to their rich history in ICC tournaments.
With a win over India in the high-profile clash, it will be an ‘absolute privilege’ for Cummins to clinch the title and join the elite list of Aussie captains.
"It would be huge (to win). We were all kids not too long ago, watching some of those great teams win 1999, 2003, and 2007 World Cups. That’s the opportunity ahead of us tomorrow, which is really exciting," Cummins said on the eve of the final.
"As a captain, it would be an absolute privilege to lift the trophy with these great bunch of blokes. It would be awesome and in terms of the pinnacle, I think it is right up there. It’s got the longest history of a world event where all the teams compete. You only get a shot at it every four years," he said.
India have been in remarkable form in the tournament as they topped the league stage by winning all nine matches before defeating New Zealand by 70 runs in the semi-final.
As India are set to feature in the fourth final, they will be aiming to end the long and frustrating drought of an ICC trophy with their third World Cup win.