India battles New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy Final.
Photo : AP
India will play New Zealand in the finals of the ICC Champions Trophy on Sunday in a bid to reclaim the Trophy after 12 years.
However, the Kiwis have always been tough opponents, and they hold a 10-6 lead over their Asian rivals across all the ICC tournaments.
A deeper look reveals that New Zealand also has a 3-1 edge over India in the ICC knockout matches.
To tackle the Black Caps, India will probably retain the combination of the four spinners and two pacers for the championship match.
However, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan has identified the two bowlers who can trouble India the most.
"India will need to handle two key bowlers—M. Santner and M. Henry (if he's fit). If they can counter them successfully, they'll have already won more than half the battle. On the batting side, aside from big names like Kane Williamson, I'm particularly interested in the plans against Tom Latham," Pathan wrote on X.
Former India head coach also warned the men in blue stating that if there is one team that can stop the Indian juggernaut then it is New Zealand. "If there's one team that can beat India, it's New Zealand," Shastri said in 'The ICC Review'. "So India start as favourites but only just," he said referring to the final, which will be a rematch of the 2000 Champions Trophy title clash, where New Zealand triumphed by four wickets in Nairobi.
India played all their matches in Dubai and stormed into the final with an all-win record, and defeated Australia in the semifinal.
New Zealand, who finished second behind India in Group A after losing their league match, secured their spot in the final with a one-sided win over South Africa in the second semifinal in Lahore.
India vs New Zealand Squads -
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Jacob Duffy.
(With PTI inputs)
Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Cricket, Sports and around the world.
