Courtesy: ICC/BCCI/PCB
The much-awaited final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be played on the pitch which was used for India versus Pakistan Group A match on February 23, at the Dubai International Stadium. The Indian cricket team will be taking on New Zealand in the grand finale of the tournament on Sunday, March 9, and it will be on a pitch which is expected to be slow and provide turn to the spinners, which neither of the teams would mind much.
Notably, just about two weeks ago, during the India-Pakistan clash, the Men in Green batted first, and they struggled against the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav, getting bundled out for 241 runs in the last over of their innings after giving five wickets to the spinners. In the run chase, the Indian cricket team didn’t have much of an issue to get past the finishing line, winning the contest by six wickets with 45 balls to spare, especially when the opposition had only one recognised spinner in Abrar Ahmed.
Varun Chakravarthy's inclusion has added to the depth of India's playing XI in Champions Trophy
Since then, India’s spin attack has been further bolstered with the inclusion of Varun Chakravarthy, who took a five-wicket haul in India’s 44-run win over New Zealand at the same ground in Dubai last weekend. The average first innings score at the Dubai International Stadium for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 matches is 246 runs, while the highest total was put up on the board by Australia of 264 runs in the first semi-final before India chased it down with four wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare.
While the Indian bowling lineup has four quality spinners, New Zealand have their captain Mitchell Santner in prime form alongside Michael Bracewell, who got the ability to disrupt the Men in Blue batting lineup in the upcoming Champions Trophy final. Moreover, regardless of the pitch and conditions, the summit clash of the tournament is expected to be quite a close one since two evenly matched teams are competing in it.
India are in search of their third Champions Trophy title, while if New Zealand end up winning it, this will be the second time in history that they will get their hands on the coveted trophy.
