New Delhi: Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand in Dubai, former India captain and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President, Sourav Ganguly, expressed confidence that if the Men in Blue perform well in the final, they will secure the title on Sunday.
India will face New Zealand in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy on March 9 at the Dubai International Stadium. India remains unbeaten in the tournament so far, while the Kiwis have been impressive with both bat and ball under the leadership of Mitchell Santner.
This match is set to be a thrilling rematch of the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy final, which New Zealand won. The Men in Blue will be eager to seek revenge for their losses to the Blackcaps in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal and the 2021 ICC World Test Championship final.
“Best wishes to team India. It is a good team, and we hope it plays well. If we play well, we will win,” Sourav Ganguly said while speaking to ANI.
India won their recent match against New Zealand by 44 runs, setting a total of 249 runs in their 50 overs and dismissing the Kiwis for 205 runs in the 46th over. While much attention has been paid to the performance of spinners in the UAE, it was Matt Henry who shone with the ball for New Zealand, taking 5/42 from eight overs. Shreyas Iyer was India’s top scorer, making 79 off 98 balls.
Kane Williamson fought hard for New Zealand, scoring 81 off 120 balls, but lacked support from the middle order. India’s spinners took a combined nine wickets, with Varun Chakaravarthy, dubbed the ‘secret weapon,’ leading the way with 5/42—matching Henry’s figures for the Kiwis—in just his second One Day International.
Squads:
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh.
New Zealand Squad: Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William O’Rourke, Daryl Mitchell, Nathan Smith, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy.
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