ICC World Cup 2015: India vs Australia - 5 things to look forward to

After almost a week’s wait, the day is finally here. Tomorrow afternoon, at half-past two, not one seat at the grand Sydney Cricket Ground will be left vacant. It’s time for Australia and India –  the two champion teams with nine World Cup finals between them –  to meet yet again. Here are five things to look forward to from this epic encounter: 

#1 The magic of March

In the last decade or so, the month of March has held tremendous significance to both Australia and India. It was March 2001 when VVS Laxman brought down an empire built by Steve Waugh’s world beaters, and initiated the golden era in Indian cricketing history.

Some seven years later, in the same month, MS Dhoni’s turks brought home a rarely achieved one-day series victory in Australia amidst a lot of fanfare – beating a deadly Australian outfit in the finals. And in between 2001 and 2015, the third month of the calender year has seen plenty.

However, two dates stand out from the rest: 23rd March, 2003 – A buoyant Indian outfit led by Sourav Ganguly reached the World Cup final when no one gave them a chance, only to get pummeled by Ricky Ponting’s heroics.

Eight years and a day later, it took something special from Yuvraj Singh to send Ricky Ponting and company back home after the Australians lost to India in the quarter-final at Ahmedabad. While Punter’s dream of a hat-trick remained unfulfilled, India became champions after 28 years. 2003 was avenged.

It’s that time of the year again, and we know that tomorrow’s match is going to be a decider of sorts. But who will triumph is a question that can’t be answered yet.