New Delhi: Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar gifted a jersey to former India captain Virat Kohli ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023 final which will be played between India and Australia at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Kohli recently broke the all-time record of Sachin Tendulkar’s most ODI hundred as the former India opener slammed 49 centuries in his ODI career, whereas while playing the semifinal against New Zealand Kohli smashed his 50th century.
Now, Tendulkar gifted a jersey to former India captain where the legend writes, “Virat, you made us proud”.
Sachin Tendulkar writes “Virat, you made us proud”.
– In the Jersey gifted to King ahead of the final. pic.twitter.com/5CxhLQkMLW
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 19, 2023
A special occasion & a special pre-match moment
Sachin Tendulkar 2011 Virat Kohli 2023
Follow the match https://t.co/uVJ2k8mp2V#TeamIndia | #CWC23 | #MenInBlue | #Final | #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/VWAHkf60LV
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 19, 2023
Earlier, Australia won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the final of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 here at Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
Both India and Australia have opted to go in with no changes in the sides that played their respective last semifinal matches against New Zealand and South Africa, respectively.
India captain Rohit Sharma said the team needs to stay nice and calm during the game if they want to go over the line in today’s final.
“The biggest occasion in the cricketing event. We have to stay nice and calm. It’s a dream come true to be captaining the team in the final. I know what lies in front of us. We need to play well and get the result. You got to make the right decisions on the field. That’s something we’ve done consistently in the last 10 games. We are playing the same team,” said Rohit during the toss.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins said dew will play a role in today’s final against India.
“We are gonna have a bowl first. Looks like a dry wicket. Dew is a factor. It gets better to bat on. Tough start to the tournament, haven’t really put a foot wrong ever since. It’s all set up perfectly. We’ve played these guys a lot,” said Cummins.
In the ongoing ODI World Cup, the Rohit Sharma-led side defeated Australia in the league when the two teams met each other last month in Chennai. Moreover, Team India has had an unbeaten run, winning all 10 games en route to the final against Australia.
Playing XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd Siraj.
Australia: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood