Rohit Sharma and the team management haven’t distributed their playing combination since Hardik Pandya’s injury from the Bangladesh game and have backed their players throughout the marquee event, which has helped the team’s fruitful campaign so far on the home soil.
An optional training session was organised for the Indian team at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Star Indian players Kuldeep Yadav, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill, and the pace-bowling combo of Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah were notable absentees from the training session, with the high-octane game being scheduled on Sunday.
A few Indian players accompanied the head coach Rahul Dravid and his support staff for the training session. The highlight of the net session was their lengthy chat as they stood next to the pitch, which also led to an odd question regarding the expected playing 11 that India will deploy for the match against Australia.
It ought to be obvious what the ultimate combination is, which could be the same as the last few games. With six players from the team present in the nets, including Ravichandran Ashwin, it raised a few eyebrows that India could pull off an upset during the optional training session on Friday in Ahmedabad. KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, and Prasidh Krishna were among the others present at the ground.
According to reports, Ravichandran Ashwin participated actively in the proceedings, but the session was primarily focused on Rohit’s strenuous batting session, in which he faced a local leg-spinner and a left-arm spinner in an attempt to prepare for Adam Zampa.
Ravindra Jadeja had two separate sessions, one of which included death-over batting and the experienced players leaving no stone unturned before the marquee clash.
Ravichandran Ashwin featured in just one game throughout the tournament, against Australia at the beginning of the campaign on the spin-friendly Chennai surface. When India last lifted the World Cup trophy in 2011, skipper MS Dhoni brought back S Sreesanth, who had only appeared in the team’s opening match, as the sole change in the final of the game.
Rohit Sharma will have the opportunity to lead the Indian side to the third ODI World Cup title after the legendary Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni. The Men in Blue has won all their games in a dominating fashion so far in the marquee event and would be keen to put on another fine show in front of the full-packed home fans on Sunday.