So we are just two sleeps away from a titanic World Cup final battle that will unfold at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday
India and Australia look primed to take on each other but among the two sides, for the first time, India's team appears almost invincible.
That is largely due to the efforts of all departments firing in a synchronised fashion throughout the tournament with batting and bowling complementing each other.
Shami's unbelievable seam bowling has been rocking the opposition in the last five games so much so that he has picked up 23 wickets in the World Cup with the most important match still to come.
The UP-man has been rattling batsmen with his length and seam position where he lands the ball with the seam without actually banging it into the pitch.
It's a smooth release of the ball with the seam upright and he has been creating mayhem for opposition batters like we saw at the Wankhede on Wednesday where he scalped seven wickets.
The Shami factor will be something Australia will have to seriously deal with when they lock horns with India in the summit clash in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Australia's top order has been a bit shaky despite the victories and the win in the semifinal against South Africa did expose the vulnerabilities they have.
How the Aussies negotiate him and the Indian spinners will determine the direction the game will take irresepective of whether Australia are batting first or chasing a target.
Rohit's batting is the X-Factor apart from the Shami threat which the five-time World Champions will have to deal with.
The Indian skipper has been racking up runs at a break-neck pace that gives the team the luxury of maintaining a run-rate of over six even if the middle-order takes a bit of time to settle down.
The presence of Shreyas Iyer and his current red-hot form helps India's cause immensely as he takes the pressure off Virat Kohli to go for the big shots and up the ante.
When India and Australia last played a World Cup final in 2003, it was Ricky Ponting's scintillating 140 that took Australia to 359/2.
Ponting's innings literally killed the match with India collapsing to 234 all out in 39.2 overs with Virender Sehwag's 82 being the top score in a lost cause.
With the kind of form India's top five are in, it shouldn't be a surprise if a repeat of the semifinal happens with one or two batters piling on hundreds as the team posts a herculean total.
Australia's worst nightmare is a realistic possibility if India bat first.
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