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Ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand, former Team India skipper Sourav Ganguly said that if the “Men in Blue” play well in the final, they will go on to clinch the title.
Team India will lock horns with New Zealand in the finals of the Champions Trophy 2025 onMarch 9 at the Dubai International Stadium. Rohit Sharma-led India has not suffered any losses in the tournament so far. On the other hand, the “Black Caps” have looked rock solid with the willow and the ball.
The clash promises to be an epic sequel to the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy final, which New Zealand won. Men in Blue would like to avenge losses to the Blackcaps in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal and 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.
Before the Champions Trophy 2025 final, India had faced New Zealand in the group stage match of the marquee event. The “White Ferns” suffered a loss against Rohit Sharma and his men.
While there`s been a lot of focus on spin bowlers stepping up in the UAE, it was Matt Henry who starred with the ball for the Black Caps, claiming 5/42 off eight overs, in an innings where Shreyas Iyer top-scored for India with a 79 off 98 balls.
Kane Williamson fought valiantly for the Kiwis with an 81 (120 balls), but couldn`t find support in the middle order. India`s spinners combined for nine wickets, led by `secret weapon` Varun Chakaravarthy, taking 5/42 – coincidentally the exact figures as Henry for the Kiwis – in what was just the 33-year-old leg-spinner`s 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.
(With ANI Inputs)
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