World
India
Former India captain and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has expressed confidence in Team India’s abilities ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand in Dubai. With India remaining undefeated in the tournament and New Zealand looking formidable under Mitchell Santner’s leadership, Ganguly believes that a strong performance on Sunday will seal the title for the Men in Blue.
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 the team India. It is a good team, and we hope it plays well. If we play well, we will win,” said Sourav Ganguly.
India secured a convincing 44-run victory over New Zealand last week, posting 249 runs in their 50 overs before bowling out the Kiwis for 205 runs in the 46th over. Matt Henry was the standout performer for New Zealand, claiming 5/42 off eight overs, while Shreyas Iyer top-scored for India with 79 runs off 98 balls.
Kane Williamson’s valiant 81-run effort was not enough to rescue the Kiwis, as India’s spinners dominated, with Varun Chakaravarthy taking 5/42 in just his second ODI appearance.
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 Inputs from ANI)
Also Read: India vs New Zealand Champions Trophy 2025: Can Mohammed Shami Recreate Wankhede Magic?
