Ahmedabad, Nov 18: Australia captain Pat Cummins said they are more than ready to take up the challenge of facing India in front o of 1.3 lakh people in the World Cup final.
Apart from facing the best team of the tournament, i.e. India, in their prime form, Australia’s biggest challenge in the World Cup 2023 final would be to tackle the expected 1.3 lakh crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The world’s largest cricket stadium is expected to be full for the big final on Sunday and when it’s even close to full as it was during the group-stage match against Pakistan last month, it is one of the most daunting places to play cricket against India.
1 lakh 30 thousand people, mostly in blue, cheering every move of Virat Kohli or every step of Jasprit Bumrah is a nightmarish thought for any opposition and if it’s as big as the World Cup final then it gets doubly difficult.
Australia, however, are no stranger to such environments. They have played home matches against India where the blue shirts have outnumbered yellow.
The stakes for Sunday’s match of course will be much higher and the number of people far greater than any other cricket stadium in the world, but Australia captain Pat Cummins said they are more than ready to take up the challenge.
I think you’ve got to embrace it,” he said during a press conference on Saturday. Taking a cue from past Australian captains like Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, Cummins said his target would be to silence the packed crowd in Ahmedabad.
The crowd’s obviously going to be very one-sided but it’s also in sport there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent and that’s the aim for us tomorrow.
Yeah, you’ve just got to embrace every part of it, every part of a final even you know in the lead-up there’s going to be noise and more people and interest and you just can’t get overwhelmed.
You got to be up for it, you got to love it and just know whatever happens it’s fine but you just want to finish the day with no regrets,” he added.(CNI)
