The Champions Trophy 2025 is little over a sleep away as India and New Zealand are gearing up for the summit clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, March 9. India are looking for their third Champions Trophy title after their shared crown in 2002 and a thumping win in 2013. Meanwhile, the Kiwis are in hunt for their second Champions Trophy.
Meanwhile, as per a report in Cricbuzz, the final between the two teams will be played on the surface that was used for the game between India and Pakistan in Dubai. The pitch is expected to play slow, with spinners likely to extract help from it, as seen in the previous matches at the venue. India and Pakistan locked horns at the Dubai-based venue on February 23 in their second league stage games.
The Men in Green had put up an under-par score of 241 after spinners Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja did an impressive job for the Men in Blue. Varun Chakravarthy, the man who took a five-wicket haul in the league-stage game against New Zealand, was not playing in that clash against Pakistan. With Chakravarthy likely to find himself in the Playing XI in the final, India’s spin attack has got a shot in its arm come the summit clash.
India had chased down the target easily, with Virat Kohli smashing a century with a four to take India over the line. On the back of his 84, India chased down 242 with six wickets in hand and 45 balls to spare.
Notably, all four matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium have been played at different venues, with each of them assisting the spinners. The Dubai-based stadium has 10 pitches, which are managed by Australian curator Matthew Sandery.
The pitch for the final is located at the center of the venue, which will provide nearly even boundary sizes on either side of the ground. With the India and Pakistan clash having played on February 23, there was ample time for the pitches to rest and not be tired for this match.
India and New Zealand have faced each other four times in ICC knockout events, with the Kiwis having the wood over the Men in Blue. The Blackcaps have registered wins in three of those games – the 2000 Champions Trophy final, the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal,l and the World Test Championship 2021 final. Their only loss to the Indian team at the global knockout events came in the ODI World Cup 2023 semifinal.
