Up to 130,000 fans in the stands, the world number one against the record champion: The Cricket World Cup in India ends with a great spectacle – and an entire country is hoping for the coronation of its idols.
On Sunday (November 19th, 2023), hosts India want to end their twelve-year drought and win their third title after 1983 and 2011 against Australia in the gigantic cricket temple of the metropolis of Ahmedabad.
“It’s going to be an incredible game”said India’s former captain Sunil Gavaskar, World Cup winner in 1983, on the TV channel India Today. One “real challenge” will be the game, but the Indian team around captain Rohit Sharma and star player Virat Kohli, who is revered in his homeland and is one of the highest paid athletes in the country, is up to it.
Australia is well recovered
In the group stage six weeks ago, India had a narrow lead against five-time title holders Australia, and the hosts are still unbeaten in the tournament. But Australia, which also lost its second tournament game against South Africa after its opening defeat against India, has since recovered well with eight wins in a row – and is heading into the long-term duel with a tailwind.
One expects a “Quality team” without “real weaknesses“said Australia’s Josh Hazlewood, one who “was on the rise throughout the tournament” – and has the masses of fans behind him, whether in the stadium or the millions in the metropolises of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
Cricket, which will be part of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 for the first time since 1900, is in India what football is in Germany: the number one popular sport. 1.4 billion inhabitants, including hundreds of millions of enthusiastic fans, are hoping for an autumn fairy tale with the right winner. India is the first nation since 1979 to host the ten-team tournament on its own.