ICC Champions Trophy Final: New Zealand Win the Toss and Opt to Bat
New Zealand have won the toss and opted to bat against India in much-awaited title clash of ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai.
India has remained undefeated throughout the tournament. Men in Blue secured impressive wins over Bangladesh, Pakistan, and New Zealand in the league stage, followed by a thrilling semifinal victory over Australia. On the other hand, New Zealand had a strong league stage, defeating Pakistan and Bangladesh, but suffered a loss to India in their final league match. However, the Black Caps bounced back, with a convincing semifinal win over South Africa to book their spot in the final.
India is aiming for its third Champions Trophy title, having previously won in 2002 and 2013. This final presents an opportunity to avenge past encounters against the Black Caps. Meanwhile, New Zealand, last crowned champions in 2000, will be eager to reclaim the trophy.
Cricket fans across the country and abroad have expressed their unwavering confidence in the victory of Men in Blue. The excitement surrounding the much-anticipated clash has ignited fervent prayers and passionate predictions from supporters across various walks of life, all eager to see India lift the prestigious trophy. Indian fans in Dubai said, they expect a dominant performance, from Team India.
The excitement back home is no less than as cricket fever gripped fans, with streets, markets, and homes buzzing with anticipation. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta extended wishes to the Indian team for their match.
Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav expressed confidence that Indian team will win and their hardwork will pay off. Speaking to media in Mumbai, Indian cricketer Shreyas Iyer’s coach Pravin Amre said, Shreyas understands that representing Team India is a significant achievement, one that few get the opportunity to experience. Mr Amre said, Shreyas is determined to put in his best effort and deliver a top performance.
Fans in Lucknow offered prayers for Team India, praying for their victory against New Zealand in the thirlling encounter today. Young fans from Mumbai expressed his excitement for the match, saying they are eagerly looking forward to it. They praised India’s strong batting and bowling lineup. An Indian fan Akshat Mahajan from Jammu said, India is playing very dominantly and it will be a one-sided match.
“All to play for, this is the big final. Dubai is getting warmer but it is not that bad right now, a bit of cloud around and a high of 31 degrees, no chance of rain. Dimensions – over point it is 66 meters and over square leg it is 66 meters as well, 76 meters straight down the ground. It looks like a pretty dry surface. This is bone dry and it is a used wicket. You win the toss and bat first on this surface. It will get harder and harder to bat as the game goes on. Pace off will be the way to go for the bowlers. Most finals are won in the head. It will turn a little bit. If you win the toss, you bat first,” reckon Rameez Raja and Aaron Finch.
Rohit Sharma: We’ve been here enough, batted first and bowled first, don’t really mind batting second. It hasn’t changed much, we’ve chased and won as well. It does give you a lot of confidence, takes the toss away from the game. At the end of the day, what matters is how well you want to play. That’s what we’ve spoken about in the dressing room, not to worry about the toss and to just play well, that’s what we’ve done and we have to do today as well. New Zealand have been a very good team over the past so many years, they tend to play good cricket in ICC tournaments. The challenge for us is to play well against them now. Same team for us.
Mitchell Santner: We’re going to have a bat first. Looks like a pretty good wicket, similar to the one we played India here a week ago. Want to get runs on the board and see what happens. Obviously expected a few blue shirts, great atmosphere, great ground. Going to be slightly different from what we got in Pakistan. We saw how India played and what they got out of it. Hope it slows down a bit later. Different guys have stepped up at different times. You want guys firing from the start and we have done that, as have India. Unfortunately Matt Henry has been ruled out, we’ve got Nathan Smith coming in.
Teams:
New Zealand (Playing XI): Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, William ORourke
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
