AHMEDABAD: One of the first things Australian captain Pat Cummins did after settling down in his chair to address the media on match eve was nip any controversy surrounding the pitch for the final.
"I'm not a great pitch reader, but it looked pretty firm. They've only just watered it, so give it another 24 hours and have a look. But it looks like a pretty good wicket," Cummins said, while confirming that it had been used for the India-Pakistan match on October 14.
On Sunday, Australia will not just have to deal with a red-hot India but also a capacity crowd of 1,30,000 roaring for the hosts. Cummins urged his five-time world champion team to "embrace the one-sided crowd". He said his team, full of match-winners, wanted to "hear a big crowd go silent".
"I think you've got to embrace it. The crowd's obviously going to be very one-sided, but also in sport there's nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent. That's the aim for us tomorrow. You just can't get overwhelmed," Cummins said.
Of all the teams in the world, maybe Australians are the only ones who could potentially be mentally equipped enough to be immune to a partisan crowd of this size. "Potentially," Cummins replied.
"We play over here in India a lot, so the noise is not something new. On this scale it's probably bigger than we would have experienced before, but it's not something totally foreign to what we've had before. Everyone deals with it slightly differently, like Davey (Warner) probably dancing and winning the crowd over...other guys just staying in their own bubble. It should be good."
A triumph on Sunday will cap off a remarkable 2023 for Australia. They pulled off a rare Test win in India on a landmine of a pitch in Indore, downed India in the World Test Championship final at the Oval and went on to retain the Ashes after a drawn series.
