Shoaib Akhtar Reveals What New Zealand Must Do To Beat India In Champions Trophy Final: 'Forget You Are...' (Source: AP)
India and New Zealand will face off for the ICC Champions Trophy title at the Dubai International Stadium on March 9. India have been brilliant in the tournament and reached the final undefeated, also thrashing New Zealand in the last league game en route to the semifinal where they beat Australia. India will head into the contest as big favourites but New Zealand have also got a taste of the conditions and will be better prepared for the final.
New Zealand have troubled India in ICC knockout matches, having beaten them in the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy final, the 2019 World Cup final and the WTC final and they'd look to hand another major blow to the Men in Blue.
Former Pakistan cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Shoaib Malik discussed New Zealand's strategy for the final and how they can beat the strong Indian team. Akhtar said that New Zealand should forget they are entering the match as underdogs and have the belief they can beat the Indian team.
"Ye bhul jana chaie ki India samne hai, ye bhul jana chahie ki aap lesser team hai. (It should be forgotten that you are up against India, you should forget that you are the underdogs). You should forget that you are not good. Santner has that belief. I have seen it in him. As a captain, he wants to win the title.," Akhtar said on 'Game on Hai'.
Akhtar said that New Zealand will have to contain the Indian captain Rohit Sharma who will look to hard in the first 10 overs, adding that the Kiwi captain Mitchell Santner will have to lead from the front to restrict the mighty Indian batting. He said that if New Zealand play their best cricket, they can win the final.
"You have to do the right thing at the right time. You have to break the onslaught. Rohit Sharma will on the attack. He will try to neutralise your spinners. He will attack Santner. At that point, he has to handle his team as a leader. If you ask me about odds I would say 70-30 to India. When it comes to batting, their spinners, and their maturity, but if New Zealand can bring their A-game on that day (they can win)," he added.
The challenge will be stiffer for the New Zealand batters against the Indian spinners and Shoaib Malik feels the Kiwis should take a leaf out of Steve Smith's book and get a big score once they get a good start. Smith scored a solid 73 in the semifinal and helped Australia to a strong total.
"What separates Indian batters is their ability to rotate the strike. That plays a huge role in taking them to a good total and even while chasing a good score. The innings that Smith played is a good example to negate the Indian spinners. He made use of then extra fielder in the circle, came down the track, tried to find the gaps. Thirdly, whoever gets into 20s-30s should try and get to 80s, 90s or 100," he said.
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