Key events
“Hi Tanya.” Good morning, Jeremy Boyce! “Funny to think that it will soon be all over for another 4 years. No yellow shirts in the queues outside, but a big yellow banana skin waiting inside, unless India are right on top of their game and not feeling the pressure of 1.4 billion people weighing down on them. There is no better team than Australia for identifying a point of weakness and ruthlessly exploiting it. Fascinating few hours in prospect. Winning the toss could be crucial, watch out for double-headed coins… What would you do if you were Cummins and you won the toss ?”
I would bat, get runs on the board, and challenge India to score 350 against a scurrying Labuschagne in the field, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins pawing the ground, Adam Zampa deceptively floating to the crease.
The television coverage has started. DK, Ian Ward and Eoin Morgan are on the ground. The noise builds already, and a blue snake winds away from the stadium as far as the camera pans.
Are this Indian team stoppable? Yes, but only if they freeze in the moment and lose the litheness and the pomp that has carried them through the tournament untouched by failure. Despite the glories of the past, despite Dhoni, despite 2011, this is the greatest Indian white-ball team of all time. They have a King in Kohli, an emperor in Rohit, a batting line-up that carefully constructs before scoring effortlessly – four of the top five have made hundreds. As Mark Ramprakash says, they are classic cars.
With the ball? Well what can you say about a hand of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
The pressure on them is something else, but they’re used to it. The live it, breathe it, play it in the IPL every year. In Barney’s hotel this morning,
“The staff were all in replica kit, as were 90 per cent of the guests. I was given a cup of coffee by Virat, who then went on to serve Virat, Virat and Rohit at the next table.”
This, is normal.
Barney Ronay
“No reason to be alarmed, but it was a little disappointing to see a minor crush at Gate 1 of the Narendra Modi stadium on the way in. Nobody injured, but people lifted off their feet as the crowd surged, watched by rows of armed police who seemed uninterested in stewarding. This is not unusual. There are a lot of people coming to this game, a lot of people in Ahmedabad and the access ways and stewarding is not as carefully managed as it might be. But it was still a little disturbing. The ICC runs this event (in theory) and any kind of crush around the stadium is too much of a crush. The ICC should be across such things well in advance.”
A bird’s eye view from Barney at the stadium.
Can anyone spot a yellow shirt?
Preamble
Hello! You made it! We made it. India made it. And, to some surprise, Australia made it too. After 45 days and 47 matches, dew, pitch switches, heat, implosions (England), Kohli, Kohli and Kohli again, welcome to the final showdown – the World Cup final.
We’re in Ahmedabad, city of Gandhi, city of blue shirts, today a city where 1.4 billion people will be squeezed into the 90,000 Narendra Modhi stadium.
India arrive outrageous favourites, ten wins from ten games, a team of almost perfect combinations under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, a man who sucks in pressure and lets it dribble out unnoticed through his boots. Australia arrive with the lightness that comes from being almost forgotten, despite their pedigree – five World Cups already won. Pat Cummins told the press that he had one task – to silence the crowd. If that happens, for a breath, for two, three, a hundred, we have a game on our hands.
Play starts at 2pm local, 7.30pm AEDT, 8.30am GMT, please join us as we count down the minutes.