Cricket: Brad Hogg opines in favour of India vs Australia final in World Cup

Cricket: Former Australia left-arm spinner Brad Hogg hopes that the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 will see an India vs Australia final after both teams qualified for the Super Eights. Notably, Australia became the second team to advance to the next stage of the tournament after South Africa after beating Namibia. India, on the other hand, became the third team to seal their place in the next stage with their third consecutive win in the tournament against the USA. The two teams will play their last match on Monday, June 24 at the Daren Sammy National Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia.

Cricket Stadium Australia are set to clash with each other in the 2018 World Cup. The two teams will be placed in Super 8 Group 1 along with Afghanistan and either Bangladesh or Nepal. Ahead of their Super 8 encounters, Hogg predicted that both teams will finish top two in their groups and qualify for the semi-finals and eventually clash in the final. “Australia and India have Bangladesh (yet to qualify) and Afghanistan in the Super 8s and you expect both teams to beat Afghanistan and Bangladesh to reach the semi-finals, hopefully that happens. That opens up the possibility of a Grand Final between Australia and India, which I would absolutely love,” Hogg said on Star Sports. The 53-year-old further added that Australia are considered favourites for the Super Eight clash between the two teams as they are already playing in the West Indies.

However, the former wrist spinner also mentioned that the contest between the two teams will be evenly matched if they meet again in the final. Hogg pegged Australia as favourites over India in the Super Eights “But I think the first match between Australia and India in the Super Eights will be in Australia’s favour, because they have been playing in the West Indies, where it has been difficult, it has been slow. The Indian team is playing in New York, where there is some seam movement, the batsmen have not been able to find their rhythm and also they are coming from the IPL, where they were playing on a lot of flat wickets,” Hogg said. “So the adjustment there is huge, that little change, I think it is going to be tough for India in the Super Eights. But when they get to the final it will be a different story, the contest there will be much more evenly because India will have got used to the conditions.” Notably, Australia and India will play the last two Tests in 2023.

ICC The two teams clashed in the finals of the two Tests namely the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup. On both occasions, Australia emerged victorious while handing India a crushing defeat in the final. The men in Blue will be desperate to avenge their defeat if the two teams clash again in the big encounter. Meanwhile, India will take on Canada in their last Group A encounter on Saturday, June 15 while Australia will take on Scotland in their last group match on June 16.

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