ODI World Cup 2023 Final: Will Toss Play A Big Role? Rohit Sharma Gives His Honest Verdict

Suffering from cramps in the intense Mumbai heat during the semi-final, the team's premier batter, Virat Kohli , opted to skip the optional net session for the second consecutive day to stay fresh for the upcoming World Cup final against Australia on Sunday.

Despite battling cramps on his way to scoring his 50th ODI hundred, Kohli showed resilience and later fielded for a significant portion of the semi-final against New Zealand. With the Indian team facing a demanding travel schedule, the support staff effectively managed the workload of the players, resulting in Kohli and all first eleven pacers being given a well-deserved rest on the day.

Neither of the three pacers nor Kohli participated in the two pre-final sessions at Motera . Skipper Rohit, examining the pitch for the second consecutive day, observed a slight difference from the track they played on against Pakistan on October 14.

“That wicket (Pakistan game), there was no grass on it. This wicket has some grass on it. That wicket looked a lot more drier than this one - I don't know, maybe you know, I still haven't looked today how the wicket is but from my understanding obviously it's slightly going to be on the slower side,” the skipper remarked.

“It's not going to change too much, but it's always nice to see the pitch on the day of the game and then assess what you want to do,” he added.

While theoretically, there is an option to include Ravichandran Ashwin , it appears highly unlikely that they will tinker with the winning combination.

“That is something we've maintained for a long period of time and something that we've done before as well. So, it's not something new for us to come and assess the pitch on the day of the game, and the players are aware of it as well.” However, the skipper isn't sure how big a factor dew will be since the temperatures have dropped this time round.

“In terms of the conditions changing, yes, the temperature has dropped a little bit. I don't know how much of a dew factor there will be because against Pakistan in that game, when we trained before the game, there was a lot of dew but there was no dew during the game.

“And even a few days back at Wankhede , we were training, there was a lot of dew on the game day there wasn't much, so that's why I keep saying the toss is not going to be a factor,” he said