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As the Indian team prepares to lock horns with Australia in the final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, a lot of eyes will be on the batting line-up of Men in Blue, which has gripped the opposition's bowling in its chokehold in this tournament.
Looking back at India's undefeated run in the tournament so far, which has lasted for 10 matches, India's batting line-up has done the majority of things right. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill ease off the pressure on batters coming later with their big hits in the powerplay, which help the upcoming batters take time to settle, watch the ball and pitch well and then dominate. Virat Kohli is the anchor and the team plays around him. The presence of Virat till the very end allows the openers to attack in powerplay and middle-order batters Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul to play their natural game. In this tournament, India's collective batting strike rate as a team is 104.66, the highest in the tournament. Rohit's strike rate of 124.15 and Iyer's strike rate of over 113 stands out in the team. The second-highest strike rate by a team in this World Cup is of New Zealand, of 103.24. India's strike rate in this tournament is also the third-highest collective batting strike rate of all time. At the top is Australia's strike rate of 109.57 in their 2015 Cricket World Cup winning campaign. At the second spot is South Africa with a strike rate of 107.85 in the 2015 World Cup. India reached the finals following a 70-run win over New Zealand in the semifinal at Mumbai. India has entered its fourth World Cup final, having won the title in 1983 and 2011 while they lost in 2003 against Australia in South Africa. India will be aiming for their third title. In the second semifinal, Australia beat South Africa in another tight game at Kolkata by three wickets to reach their eighth WC final. Aussies have won five World Cups previously in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav. Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc. (ANI)
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