THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES

India are just a step away from promise of reaching hallowed territory, alongside teams of 1983 & 2011

In an air-conditioned room packed with press personnel in Chennai on October 7, Rohit Sharma was asked about "unfinished business". Calm and laidback in these settings, the India skipper would respond by invoking Sachin Tendulkar's quest to win the 2011 ODI World Cup and say he's chasing a similar goal. "Yeah, it will be nice to win a World Cup. It's the biggest prize that you can have in your career," he said. "But there's a way to do it.

There's a process to it." That process has been followed to perfection, with 10 commanding victories and many memorable performances shaping a hitherto flawless campaign.

In another air-conditioned room on Saturday, this time in Ahmedabad and with a larger audience hanging onto his every word, Sharma was reminded about "unfinished business". And he repeated what he had said six weeks ago. "It'll be nice to win the World Cup. In the same tone, I want to say it now again, the same thing."

Like then, Australia, five-time champions, are India's opponents. But if Sharma's statement in Chennai came at the start of the World Cup, the difference now is that his reiteration comes ahead of the final. India are now just one step away, and the promise of reaching hallowed territory, alongside the Indian teams of 1983 and 2011, stares them in the eye. "It'll be nice to do it because we've worked really hard for it," Sharma said. "But again, we don't want to get too excited about it, or you don't want to feel too much pressure about it. A nice, balanced atmosphere will be really nice. And it's just not from me. I can sense that from every other player as well in the changing room that you know there's a laugh going around, there's a bit of tense faces as well. I'm not going to hide that but that's normal. That is why this sport is so exciting because you see all different kinds of emotions."