2023 World Cup final: Australia win toss, elect to bowl against India

Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to field against India in the final of the 50-overs World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

Two-time champions India have been the form team winning all 10 games to make the final against five-time winners Australia in the world's largest cricket stadium. Both the teams fielded the same set of 11 players who featured in their respective semi-final victories.

"Dew is one factor and it's quite dewy in the night at this venue," Cummins said explaining his decision. I'm really proud of the group. Tough start to the tournament but they haven't put a foot wrong since."

Home captain Rohit Sharma said he would have preferred to bat first anyways.

"I would've batted first, big game and runs on the board," the opener said. "It's the biggest occasion, in terms of cricketing events. We got to stay nice and calm."

Cricket carnival

Fans have been pouring in at the venue since early morning to cheer for India's victory. Thousands of sleepless flag-waving fans sporting blue India jerseys clogged roads outside the world's biggest cricket stadium early Sunday, too excited to sleep as excitement built ahead of the final.

The blockbuster conclusion of cricket's showpiece tournament, with 48 matches over 46 days between 10 teams at 10 venues, wraps up Sunday at the grand 132,000-seat arena named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India's western city of Ahmedabad.

India stormed into the finals after registering a comprehensive 70-run victory over New Zealand. Australia are adamant they will be "ready for anything" India throw at them in the Cricket World Cup final after controversy hit the tournament in a 'pitch switch' row.

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