India vs Australia: Narendra Modi Stadium pitch report, Ahmedabad weather ahead of Cricket World Cup final
Hosts India will face Australia on Sunday 19 November in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
The 48-game tournament will conclude at the 130,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the largest cricket stadium in the world.
Both India and Australia have had stellar performances throughout the World Cup, and the teams are now just one step away from achieving the greatest accolade in cricket.
India are the favourites, winning all of their nine group games before putting on an impressive all-round display in the first semi-final.
The team scored 397 runs in the first innings before defeating New Zealand by 70 runs at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium to qualify for the final.
Australia reached the final by beating South Africa by three wickets in a low-scoring but entertaining match on Thursday.
Sunday’s match will be India’s fourth appearance in a Cricket World Cup final. They have won two of their previous three, beating the West Indies in 1983 and Sri Lanka in 2011.
Australia have won the World Cup five times before and are set to play a tournament final for the record eighth time.
Narendra Modi Stadium pitch report
The Narendra Modi Stadium pitch surface has been good to both batters and fielders.
It has usually been a treat for the former, but also assisted in some disciplined bowling. It has helped those bowling with a new ball and also spinners during middle overs.
The surface promises good bounce and a regular pace for the bowlers. The first 10 overs of both innings will be crucial, with the ball staying hard.
A similar kind of wicket could be laid out for the final showdown. Some reports, however, have suggested a used surface that could turn slow as the game progresses could be used for the World Cup 2023 final.
Out of the last five matches played at the venue in Ahmedabad, three have been won by teams bowling first.
Ahmedabad weather report
The India vs Australia World Cup 2023 final on Sunday is scheduled to begin at 2pm local time and current weather forecasts do not predict rain.
There will be plenty of sunshine and clear weather, according to private weather forecaster AccuWeather. Daytime temperatures are anticipated to reach around 33C and will gradually cool to approximately 25C in the evening.
The humidity is expected to be between 38-60 per cent.
India vs Australia: Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Australia: Pat Cummins (Captain), David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Sean Abbott, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis (wk), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc.
