Team India will step into the cauldron of the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday with a sense of history upon them as they clash with Australia in the World Cup final.
On the cusp of their third World Cup title, India are overwhelming favourites to clinch the coveted trophy with the unprecedented 10-0 victory run in this edition so far.
It has been probably the most dominant run at a World Cup by any team in the history of the tournament and the manner in which they have registered victories in each of those games is a reflection of their inherent strength.
India and Australia had locked horns with each other in the opening match of the World Cup in Chennai and the Rohit Sharma-led side had come out triumphant after a top-order wobble.
FIERCE COMPETITORS
These two teams are the fiercest of competitors when it comes to clashing with each other and have a history at the ODI World Cups.
It is 20 years since they ran into each other at the 2003 World Cup final in Johannesburg, where the Ricky Ponting-led Aussies defeated India by 125 runs after Ponting's match-winning 140 helped them post 359.
With the BCCI planning to felicitate all former World Cup winning captains, Ponting would be there and he would hope for an encore from Pat Cummins but Sourav Ganguly, who is also likely to attend the final will be hoping Rohit makes amends for the 2003 team coming up short.
RED-HOT INDIA
India are on a golden run and have all their important bases covered when it comes to batting and bowling.
The Top-5 batters are in prime touch with the most experienced Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli going through a purple patch that has given the opposition serious headaches.
Kohli, the highest run-getter in this edition, with 711 runs has gone ahead of Sachin Tendulkar for the most runs in a single World Cup edition. The India No 3 has been playing the role of an anchor to perfection with the rest of the middle order comprising Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav playing around him.
Rohit's blazing starts at the top have given India the kind of momentum that sets the foundation for the huge scores they have been piling on lately.
The skipper's attacking approach and Shreyas Iyer's impactful effort in the middle overs have been major catalysts in India putting up massive totals batting first.
INDIAN BOWLING ON FIRE
The bowling has been an absolute revelation with Mohammad Shami at the centre of it all. The highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 23 wickets in six matches poses a major threat to Australia's batters on the big day.
The likes of Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Steven Smith will have to be very watchful about how they play the Indian new ball bowlers.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj and Shami can turn the screws on the Australian batters if they don't pick their lines and lengths and play across the line with cross batted shots.
The Indian spinners could also come into effect at Ahmedabad as there could be a fair bit of assistance for the slow bowlers with a used pitch likely to be in operation.
Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja could give Australia trouble in the middle overs if the pacers haven't already done the damage.
Australia will have to bat and bowl out of their skins to beat this Indian team in front of a 130,000 people screaming their lungs out for the home team's victory.
