This is it. The final of the ICC Champions Trophy. After 18 days of engaging contests — both on and off the field — it all comes down to the 22 men in the middle when India take on New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
On paper, they have been the two best teams of the ongoing tournament. India, unbeaten, playing all their games at one venue, dominated right from the beginning. And New Zealand, whose only loss came against India in Dubai, have beaten all other teams they were put up against on their way to the summit clash.
However, going into this much-hyped final, India are clear favourites. And with good reason. They have been an indomitable team on the slowish Dubai pitches. Two of their top three — Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli — have smashed centuries under pressure. The rest of the middle-order —from Shreyas Iyer to KL Rahul to Axar Patel to Hardik Pandya — have chipped in with the bat in crunch situations, including in the semifinal against Australia. They have the most versatile and skilful spin attack featuring Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar who can run through any batting line-up on a given day.
These are individual factors. What makes India clear favourites is that this team — which is arguably one of the greatest one-day teams this country has fielded — seems indestructible when it comes to the 50-over format. What seems even more stupefying is that despite all the riches and exploits, even though it's considered even better than the 1983 or 2002 or 2011 or even 2013 teams, this bunch is yet to show an ICC silverware.
The last time India won the Champions Trophy was when MS Dhoni wore the white blazer and lifted the trophy at Lord’s 12 years ago. Some of the current players (Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja) were a part of that 2013 Champions Trophy winning team too.
For more than a decade, this team has dominated bilaterals and consistently reached semifinals and finals but kept falling short at the final hurdle. The costliest and most heartbreaking one came on November 19, 2023, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. They had a dream run to the home ODI WC final, but on a slow surface, India got stuck.
India have learnt their lessons. This time, they are not going to take any chances. And it has shown in the way head coach Gautam Gambhir has persisted with the template he has put forth. They have been an unstoppable force all throughout the tournament but are coming up against an immovable object in New Zealand.
India have spinners, New Zealand have Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell. They have Mitchell Santner who could be the biggest threat for India. What perhaps would give them a sigh of relief is the doubts cast over Matt Henry who has troubled Indian top-order batters consistently. If Australia had the power of Travis Head to counter India, New Zealand have the most skillful batting lineup when it comes to countering spin.
What will be a challenge for them is to maintain the tempo without losing wickets at regular intervals. That and of course, toss, which has played a crucial role in the Dubai leg of the tournament. Sharma and Gambhir know enough to not take New Zealand lightly. They know their best is needed come Sunday to go all the way. “We still haven't played a perfect game. We still have one more game to go. Hopefully, we can play a perfect game. We want to keep improving, we want to stay humble, we want to be ruthless on the cricket field but absolutely humble off the field as well. So hopefully,y we can play one more game and play our best game,” Gambhir said on Wednesday.
That is what it comes down to, playing the perfect game across 600 deliveries in over seven and a half hours in Dubai on Sunday. The winner takes all.