Battleground Motera: Key match-ups at a glance

IND vs AUS ICC World Cup 2023 final The two best teams of the ICC World Cup 2023 have duly made their way to the final promising a series of fascinating individual battles between the fierce rivalsIndia the only unbeaten side in the tournament have hardly put a foot wrong while Australia have never looked back after recovering from backtoback losses in the beginning of the competition As a unit India have performed better than Australia and are favourites to lift the coveted trophy at home after 12 long yearsOn the other hand Australia are not used to coming second when a global trophy is at stake and five titles in seven final appearances are a testament to their envious record MidDay looks at matchups that could potentially decide the winnerRohit Sharma vs Mitchell StarcJosh Hazlewoods new ballIndia captain Rohit Sharma has walked the talk by taking on the bowlers in the opening powerplay throughout the tournament His highrisk game has released the pressure of the other batters and allowed the likes of Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill to build their inningsRohit dancing down the track and dispatching Trent Boult over cover for a six in the third over of the semifinal summed up the Indian skippers fearless approach over the course of the long and draining tournamentAlso ReadThree finals two titles India in World Cup finalsThe big question is can he pull it off against Hazlewood and Starc in the opening powerplay on Sunday While batting first or chasing India will rely heavily on Rohit who was trapped in front by Hazlewood in the league game against Australia in ChennaiHazlewood will continue to ask questions with his seam movement while Starc will be looking for a banana inswinger that has troubled Rohit in the past It is probably the most significant game of his career and trust Rohit to take the challenge head onMohammed Shami vs lefthanded openersWith 23 wickets in six games Shami is having a tournament to remember No batter has found a way to negotiate the movement generated with an impeccable seam positionBowling from around the wicket the skillful Indian pacer has especially rattled the leftarm batters making even a champion cricketer like Ben Stokes look cluelessIn his backtoback overs in the powerplay of the first semifinal Shami removed the dangerous opening duo of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra with the ball that straightened enough from around the wicket angle to take the outside edgeHis performance against lefties make a strong case for Shami to open the bowling alongside Jasprit Bumrah against the rampaging David Warner and Travis HeadThe 33yearold Amrohaborn pacer has been used as the first change option by Rohit but considering the threat posed by Warner and Head the India skipper will be tempted to throw the new ball to ShamiVirat Kohli vs Adam ZampaKohli has often struggled against leftarm spinners in the recent past but legspinner Zampa too has troubled him and has got the special wicket of the Indian superstar as many as eight timesThe battle between tournaments leading rungetter and the most successful spinner will be the one to watch out forKohli who has amassed 711 runs at a strike rate of 9069 and average of 10157 will be expected to tackle Zampa by taking the quick singles and two besides working the field in the middle oversAlso ReadWhat you should and should not do to help India win the CupZampa likes to target the stumps considering that Kohli will be expecting the odd flipper and googly It has not been his mode of play thus far but will will Kohli attempt to charge down the track and surprise ZampaKuldeep Yadav vs Glenn MaxwellIt is a testament to Kuldeeps sublime skills that barring Daryl Mitchell no batter has went for the offence against the leftarm wrist spinnerMitchell targetted the straight boundary against Kuldeep in Dharamsala but a freak like Maxwell has a lot more shots in his repertoire and some of them he only can pull offIf Maxwell manages to hang around on Sunday it would be the toughest test for KuldeepMaxwell can target the cow corner while playing with the spin and he also has the ability to disturb Kuldeeps rhythm by going for the breathtaking reverse hits when the ball lands outside the offstump If that happens Kuldeep will have to think out of the box to fox the AustralianDavid Warner vs Jasprit BumrahJasprit Bumrah who has taken 18 wickets in 10 games with an incredible economy rate of 398 is yet to dismiss Warner in ODIs in 14 gamesWarner has managed to collect 117 runs off the 130 balls he has faced from BumrahAlso ReadSkipper Rohits route From darkness to lightSince coming back from an injury Bumrah has added a deadly outswinger in his already envious range and that could trouble an inform Warner who is Australias leading run getter in the tournament with 528 runsBumrah will fire away a few with an angle but Warner will be waiting for that incoming ball