Rohit needs to take measured approach against Starc, Hazlewood, says Atul Wassan

Asked if India has an edge over Australia due to the results of the bilateral series this year, Atul said that these matches are a thing of the past.

Noida: Ahead of India’s World Cup final against Australia, former Indian cricketer Atul Wassan suggested that skipper Rohit Sharma should take a measured approach against pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

India will lock horns against Australia in a repeat of the 2003 Cricket World Cup final at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. The Men in Blue will be hoping to lift their third World Cup title and avenge the loss to the Aussies by 125 runs in 2003.

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“The preparation has been nice since we have won all our matches. It seems that the match will be easy but it would not be the case as I know the Australian team well and have played with them. They are energetic and dangerous. They have that never-die spirit. They have six to eight players from the 2015 and 2019 World Cups so they have experience of big matches. They are not as pressurised as our team since they take sport as a sport. But here, cricket is a matter of life and death. Our players know it and soak the pressure. That is why Virat Kohli and Rohit are legends. Every team had a bad day in this WC. Hope this never comes for us,” Atul told ANI.

“Rohit has been over-attacking in his approach. But I fear that Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will do well against him so he should take a measured approach,” he added.

Asked if India has an edge over Australia due to the results of the bilateral series this year, Atul said that these matches are a thing of the past.

“Australia lost two matches but they got momentum at the right time. We have been maintaining a peak for so long on the other hand,” he added.

Atul said that the team is performing so well because there are a lot of players delivering great performances.

“All players are performing well, that is why the team is doing good. Earlier, only one or two players used to play really well and the rest were not up to the mark. Rohit has set a platform for the rest with his batting, that is why Virat Kohli has performed so well. Mohammed Shami has performed so well, but it is Jasprit Bumrah who puts the pressure on batters due to which other bowlers are thriving. Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav have also played their roles well, they will be our trump cards tomorrow,” he said.

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.