India favourites, New Zealand are coming after playing in Pakan,’ says Atherton
Former England captain Michael Atherton believes that team India are a clear ‘favourite’ to win the Champions Trophy 2025 final in Dubai against New Zealand who are coming after playing their semi-final in Pakan.
Rohit Sharma-led team India will take on New Zealand, captained Mitchell Santner in the final of the Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
“India are favourites without question. They’re unbeaten in the tournament and playing at the ground (Dubai) where they’ve had lots of exposure, whereas New Zealand have gone to Pakan for their semi-final and come back,” said Atherton to SkySports.
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“India are a complete team. It is hard to look at that team and think of any weaknesses,” Atherton said about Men in Blue who will play their fourth final since 2023. “They’ve got an aggressive and good opening partnership. They’ve got the best ODI player in the hory of the game at number three. They’ve got an in-form Shreyas Iyer at four. Then they’ve got a whole host of all-rounders that give them both variety with the ball and depth with the bat, and Mohamed Shami’s return means that they haven’t really missed Jasprit Bumrah that much, so it is a complete team,” he added.
India did not travel to host country Pakan for security reasons and played all its group games, the semi-final and now the final too, in Dubai. Pakan and the ICC didn’t think it best to split India’s games across other venues in the UAE for financial reasons.
The square at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium has progressively slowed down. Australia’s 264 in the first semifinal was the highest first-innings’ total here in the Champions Trophy — chased down India with 11 balls to spare.
When India and New Zealand clashed here in their group game last Sunday, the ball hardly bounced up more than the knee in the second innings. Spin, thus, will play a key role in determining the outcome of this final.
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