Champions Trophy: India bid to ace a friendly rival, make amends

New Zealand have tripped up India in ICC tournament knockouts; Champions Trophy final is a great chance to even things

Dubai: The most captivating stories in sport are built around the revenge narrative. New Zealand beat India in the 2021 World Test Championship final. They were also winners the last time the teams faced off in a Champions Trophy final, way back in 2000. Ajit Agarkar, who was part of that contest, is in Dubai as India’s chief selector.

Virat Kohli (C) speaks with his teammates during a practice session a day ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy final. (AFP)

Let’s cancel out the aspect of avenging for India versus New Zealand. How does one get drawn into a rivalry with a team that plays sport simply for what it is? India will hold no grudges going to Sunday’s final in Dubai, their home base for the past fifteen days.

“It feels like I am getting married all over again,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead joked as a bunch of Indian journalists sought to pick his pre-match thoughts. No media, no supporters, playing against a partisan crowd is a habit Kiwi cricketers have cultivated.

“I can’t imagine there will be too many black shirts (in the crowd),” skipper Mitchell Santner said. “But I guess we have the country behind us back at home. Admittedly, it’s probably the middle of the night. But if everyone can kind of skip work and then watch the cricket, that’ll be good.”

India trained with single-minded focus on Friday. New Zealand showed the same training intensity on Saturday. These are teams accustomed to playing big matches. In the last fifteen years, India have made it to the finals of most ICC events (8), winning thrice. New Zealand have made it to four, winning once.

Australia, even though they are no longer as dominant as before, whenever they make the final (4 times), they don’t lose. For India’s depth of talent, they would want to acquire this ruthless Australian streak. Backing up last year’s T20 title with another trophy would be a good start.

“Sometimes once you get one title, then that kind of breaks the jinx and gives you the momentum,” Gill said on match eve. “You are not very desperate about getting the title. When desperation kicks in, then it’s hard to put the occasion out of the equation. In these big matches, the players that can put aside the pressure and the occasion have a better chance of winning it. I think winning the title in 2024 doesn’t mean that we are less hungry, it kind of makes us more balanced.”

One sequence Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten India would want to end is for the toss to fall in favour of their captain. “We do talk about it in a lighter way, that you’ve lost so many tosses,” said Gill.

“Looks like a good toss to lose for Rohit because they keep winning,” Santner said in jest.

The final is being played on the same 22 yards as the India-Pakistan tie, where India spinners had restricted Pakistan to 241 last fortnight. It’s the centre wicket with evenly spread square boundaries. India are set to go with an unchanged side; four spin bowling options, two of them all-rounders. Their being genuine all-rounders has lent India the necessary depth and edge over others.

Axar Patel’s batting promotion to No.5 has worked perfectly with his fluency against spin. He may want to guard against the tall Kiwi pacers blocking his scoring rate, though. In the 36 balls he’s faced against pacers, the left-hander has only managed a strike rate of 36. Ravindra Jadeja hasn’t been needed with the bat, but he is the strongest No.8 you could find for the format.

India unchallenged

If there’s anything India would want to guard against, it’s the lack of challenge in the competition. Even though winning has become steadily difficult, their longest grind was the semi-final against Australia. There too, Virat Kohli’s assuring presence for most of the run chase meant the target was never out of sight. Only New Zealand bowlers made batting hard work for India last week. There are lessons to be learned there; for batters, barring Rohit, not to overdo risks in the Powerplay.

New Zealand will come with smarter batting plans against India’s spinners. One thing the Kiwis always do is to learn and implement. Will they attack more, who will do it, how, a pinch-hitter? These will be fascinating sub-plots to look at.

“We’ve got some good players of spin and it’s about them trying to just play their games; and whether it’s to get your broom out and sweep or it’s to use your feet, we kind of give our players the freedom to play their own way,” said Santner.

In the end, winning trophies is down to who wants them more badly.

“West Indies had a team before, or the Australian team...those teams used to play their best game in knockouts or finals because, I think, they used to take out the occasion and remove the pressure from themselves,” said Gill. “It’s easy to say, “We won’t play thinking that it’s the final”. But good teams are those who can play their normal game.”