Final jump over: Men in Blue aim for title glory against New Zealand in Champions Trophy final

The Indian team will be entering the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand surely after forgetting whatever happened in the past, on Sunday, at Dubai International Stadium. The Indian team, surrounded with stalwarts, has an unbeaten run, so far, in the tournament. However, the ‘undefeated’ tag hardly matters now, as the Kiwis are known to reverse the trends to their favour under any given condition on the field.

During their last faceoff, New Zealand suffered a 44-run defeat against India— all thanks to the heroics of ‘mystery’ spinner Varun Chakravarthy, whom the Black Caps were facing for the very first time. However, after the loss, New Zealand rose up to the occasion and defeated South Africa in a high scoring match to enter the final. However, on Sunday, Chakravarthy and the spinning trio of Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeev Yadav—will be carrying a big responsibility to clear the ‘last’ examination with distinction. India has always found the resilient Kiwis a tall mountain to surmount, as the latter hold a 10-6 lead over them across all the ICC tournaments. Perhaps, New Zealand is the ‘worst’ enemy for a final against India—specially after what the fans went through during India’s exit from the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinals.

Both familiar to conditions

Notably, it will be for the first time in the ongoing showpiece event, the Indian team will be facing any opponent who has already played at the same venue.

There’s a big debate over the Indian team having the advantage of playing all their matches at the same venue (Dubai), while other teams travelled from or within Pakistan for their fixtures.

The Black Caps has already tasted the conditions in Dubai just six days ago, when they lost at the same venue. Meanwhile, given the current run of the Indian spinners, India is most likely to retain the four spinners and two pacers combination for the championship match.

Chakravarthy and Yadav, the right-hand and left-hand wrist-spinners, have already bamboozled the opponents like illusionists, while Jadeja and Patel have been the metronomes in this Indian bowling unit in the middle overs.

However, a lot will also depend on Mohammed Shami—who faced some injury issues in the last matches—to head the pace attack with Hardik Pandya. If the final is going to be played on the surface used for the India and Pakistan match, then those four bowlers can put New Zealand in a spin.

If Indian spinners are expecting some help, Kiwis will also be confident in skipper Mitchel Santner, Michael Bracewell, Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips. On other hand, their biggest hopes of countering these spinners will be Kane Williamson and Ravindra, who are the most competent batters against slow bowlers in their line-up, after Tom Latham.

Stalwarts in spotlight

Coming so close to the title, the Indian team will surely not only be relying on their bowlers... a lot will depend upon Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma— the two pillars of Indian cricket – to led the side. A fine performance by both icons will reduce the burden on the middle-order batters—who have been doing the heavy lifting thus far. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Pandya and Patel, have proved their worth, so far, in style. While knocks of substance from Kohli and Rohit will add gravitas to the occasion, India would not want to leave it to the veterans alone.

Pitch and conditions

According to multiple reports, the pitch for the final has already been selected. This pitch was previously used during India’s group-stage clash between India and Pakistan. Notably, the Dubai International Cricket Stadium has 10 pitches curated by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), offering varied conditions for different matches. However, the match was played 14 days ago.

Teams

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.

New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Jacob Duffy.