Veteran Indian batter Virat Kohli missed the optional training session on Saturday for the second day in a row after experiencing a cramp, while batting against the New Zealand in the semifinals. The Indian batting maestro missed the two optional training sessions on Friday and Saturday before the high-octane final against Australia, which led to speculation about his fitness for the game.
In the difficult Mumbai weather, Virat Kohli struggled with cramps during his historic knock to his 50th ODI century to become the first batter in history to achieve this feat. Even though he was uncomfortable, he showed a lot of fight by playing through the semi-final match against New Zealand and even fielding for a large portion of the game.
Virat Kohli became the first batter in the history of the ODI World Cup to score more than 700 runs in a single edition outperforming Legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s 673 runs record in 2003. In ten innings, he has scored 711 runs at an average of 101.57 with five fifties and three hundreds and would be keen to continue his fine form on the grand stage in Ahmedabad.
Since the Indian team has an intense travel schedule throughout the World Cup playing their games all around the country, the support staff has done a great job of managing the players’ workloads of key players. As a result, Kohli and the Indian fast-bowling trio were given a break. In the two pre-final sessions at Motera, neither Kohli nor any of the three pacers participated, with the conditions in mind.
After the great Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma will have the chance to guide the Indian team to their third ODI World Cup victory. The Men in Blue would be to put on another fantastic performance in front of the enthusiastic home crowd on Sunday after winning all of their games in the major event thus far in a decisive manner.
The Australians have lost their last two World Cup matches against the Men in Blue, including one early in the competition. However, both teams will be looking to give it their all in the highly anticipated final to win the coveted trophy in front of a packed Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. However, India will enter as the favourites to win the championship given their excellent form and home conditions.