India are going into this fixture with the same playing XI as their semi-final fixture against Australia.
India are one last push away from lifting the Champions Trophy 2025 against New Zealand in Dubai. The news from the centre is that Mitchell Santner won the toss and will bat first. India are going into this fixture unchanged from their previous combination against Australia in the semi-final. A key player missing from the team is Arshdeep Singh.
The pacer is a part of the squad but he was not included in the playing XI for any of the matches in this tournament. Less than a year ago, he played a vital role for India in the T20 World Cup 2024.
The left-armer’s impact was unmatched as he was the leading wicket-taker alongside Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi. Arshdeep returned with 17 wickets from eight matches, two more than the Player of the Series – Jasprit Bumrah. He maintained an average of 12.64 and an economy rate of 7.16. He also picked up a four-wicket haul against the USA.
In the final against South Africa, Arshdeep picked up an early wicket of Aiden Markram and the dangerous Quinton de Kock while giving away just 20 runs in his quota of four overs.
The Punjab Kings’ bowler was part of the recent home series against England. He picked up four wickets in three T20Is while registering the figure of 2/33 in his only ODI match.
Due to the pitch conditions at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, most teams have preferred a spin-heavy combination. Since India already have Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep has been ignored in this tournament.
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India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy.
New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Kyle Jamieson, Nathan Smith, Will O’Rourke.
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