Australia captain Pat Cummins has praised India’s star pacer Mohammed Shami and said he will be the player to challenge the Baggy Greens in the 2023 World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Shami has taken the entire tournament by storm since his first appearance against New Zealand in Dharamshala. He started his journey with a five-wicket haul against the Kiwis and single-handedly took apart the Blackcaps’ batting line-up in the semi-final with a seven-wicket haul.
With 23 wickets in 5 matches, Shami is the leading wicket-taker in the entire tournament and he will look to extend the lead at the top.
Cummins sang Shami’s praises during the pre-match press conference, saying: “I mean, they’re all pretty good in all departments. You know, the only guy who wasn’t playing at the start of the tournament who’s doing really well done, is clearly Mohammed Shami. He’s a class bowler for right and left armers, so yes, he’s going to be a big one, but again, these are guys we’ve played against a lot – so all our batters can play equally at times when they pit these bowlers against each other and well done.”
While Shami has been the standout player, Cummins believes spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeha should not be undermined.
“Yes, again I think they are quite versatile. They have five guys who bowl ten overs pretty much every match. I think their spinners have done well in the middle overs, Kuldeep and Jadeja, so they are going to be a tough proposition are, as always. But you know, they won every game, so they were very impressive,” Cummins added.
Australian 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 .
Indian 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 .
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