India gun for the crown against New Zealand as ICC Champions Trophy final beckons

All roads lead to Dubai as Team India is all set to rumble for one final time in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and it is for the summit clash against New Zealand. It has been a long road for the Men in Blue who have stayed undefeated until now and will be hopeful of extending their glorious story to another phenomenal final chapter in Dubai on Sunday.

India’s all-round brilliance against the mighty Aussies in the semi-final will possibly see them go unchanged against the Kiwis again. The last time these two teams met in this tournament, India had the last laugh in a modest-scoring thriller. India’s bowling department has responded well to whatever challenges have been thrown at them. The batters have been in equally sensational touch with knocks of immense patience and incredible temperament. With seven ODI wins on the bounce, the Men in Blue will be desperate to keep any trace of complacency away and make it eight in a row to lift the Champions Trophy.

New Zealand did suffer a defeat against India in the group stages but that will also help them to know which are the key areas that they should be working upon. They were up against South Africa in the semi-final and a high-scoring battle eventually saw the Blackcaps come out on top. With both the contingents of the finale, armed with some excellent tactical flair to the teeth, one can expect this to be a crackerjack of a summit clash.

Pitch Overview:

The surface in Dubai has been one rife with shenanigans that will need immense control from the batters to roll through. 260 and above has been a tough chase so far. With the ball gripping onto the pitch, unless the batters are vigilant, it can be a bowlers’ day out but then the kind of batting that both the teams have shown so far, one might expect a full-blown war of two powerhouses with significant runs on the board.

Match Details:

Match: India vs New Zealand

Venue: Dubai International Stadium, Dubai

Date: 9th March, 2025

Time: 2:30 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 119

India: 61

New Zealand: 84

Squads:

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, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Jacob Duffy