Dubai, 9 March (H.S.): India is set to face New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy final at Dubai International Stadium today. India has had a stellar tournament, advancing to the final undefeated after victories against Bangladesh, Pakistan, and New Zealand, as well as defeating Australia in the semifinal. New Zealand, despite losing to India in their last league match, overcame Pakistan and Bangladesh, and secured their playoff spot by beating South Africa in the semifinal.

India is favored to win, but New Zealand has historically troubled India in ICC matches and will aim to capitalize on this. In head-to-head knockout matches, New Zealand leads with three wins to India’s two. Key encounters for New Zealand included the 2000 Champions Trophy final and 2019 World Cup semifinal.

Squads:

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

New Zealand Squad: Mitchell Santner (Captain), Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William O’Rourke, Jacob Duffy, Devon Conway, Mark Chapman, Nathan Smith

—————

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar