Dubai: In a crucial group-stage encounter of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and chose to bowl first against India at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
The outcome of this match will determine the semifinal line-ups, with South Africa and Australia having already secured the top two spots in Group B. Both New Zealand and India are unbeaten so far, making this a high-stakes fixture.
New Zealand began their campaign with wins against hosts Pakistan and Bangladesh, ensuring their qualification for the knockout stage. India, also in formidable form, claimed victories over the same opponents.
“We’ll have a bowl first; looks like a good wicket. Want to put some pressure early, and hopefully, it skids on well later. We still want to win; we know we are going to be in Lahore later, but our job here is to do a job here. Daryl Mitchell comes in, and Conway misses this one,” said Mitchell Santner at the toss, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
India’s skipper Rohit Sharma revealed one change in the playing XI, with Varun Chakravarthy replacing Harshit Rana. “Was anyway looking to bat first, wanted to see what we could do upfront and then challenge our bowlers since we chased in both games. The approach will be very similar to the previous games, just trying to do the same things. One change for us – Harshit has been rested,” Rohit Sharma said.
Playing XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William O’Rourke.
