MELBOURNE: New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum believes Indians fans, who will be in attendance in large numbers at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the Cricket World Cup final on Sunday, will be rooting for his team and not Australia, adding that this support is needed in a game of such magnitude.
Asked at the pre-match press conference on Saturday about Indian fans travelling for the final, McCullum said, "I'm pleased you touched on that because I reckon we might have the home crowd tomorrow actually.
"It's probably no secret that most of the other teams around the world would probably fair New Zealand to win over Australia. Hopefully we'll get a good smattering of support tomorrow and I'm sure the Indian guys will certainly be rooting for us."
Reportedly, many Indians had already purchased tickets for the final, hoping it would turn out be a India-New Zealand encounter. However, Australia beat India in the semifinal on Thursday at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) to enter the final.
The 33-year-old said that the size of MCG would not be a problem for them, contrary to what many former cricketers believe. Australia's Matthew Hayden went on to say the Black Caps would not be able to cope with the massive ground.
"We're not intimidated. We're excited. I guess right through the week there's been a healthy sort of chat about those things externally. But from our point of view, we're just going about our work in the same way. We know if we play well we'll be tough to beat, and, yeah, that's pretty much our preparation," said the explosive opener.
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