DUBAI (Kashmir English): With their confidence sky-high, India are favourites but the Black Caps would definitely attempt to correct what happened a week ago in the Champions Trophy tournament.
The game for the title of the ICC Champions Trophy will be played today at the Dubai International Stadium which has a capacity of 25,000.
Team India have been faultless all Champions Trophy, having claimed all four contests in Dubai with relative ease.
India also beat their Final contestants New Zealand in the Group-Stage match before launching into the knockout phase.
On the other side, the Black Caps’ run to the Final has also been impressive.
Outside of that loss to India, the team didn’t put a foot wrong in the tournament and their victory over South Africa was a strong statement.
Champions Trophy favourites
India are favourites to claim a record third Champions Trophy today but the team faces a side with plenty of firepower in the first major white-ball final between the teams in a quarter of a century.
India refused to play in host nation Pakistan. India are on the verge of winning back-to-back International Cricket Council trophies following last year’s Twenty20 World Cup triumph.
Despite their excellent displays in Dubai, India will not take anything for granted against New Zealand.
According to New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson, his team have every chance of derailing India in today’s match.
While India will be more comfortable with the venue, having played all their games in Dubai, Williamson said anything can happen in a final.
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, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Jacob Duffy
