New Zealand will present themselves at the Dubai International Stadium as underdogs against the might of India who have remained unbeaten in this year’s champions trophy with added advantage in terms of not travelling from venue to venue, a temporary home turf during the series which means playing in home conditions which is a massive advantage unlike the rest of the 7 teams who were in this competition and had to cope with not only travelling different playing surfaces, some times out door practice restrictions due bad weather which we understand is far beyond human control because excessive travelling during a multi tournament takes its toll on players.
For India, they had no such issues. They refused to play in Pakistan due to political issues despite the security assurance given to India by Pakistan. Let’s be practical: Pakistan, who is hosting a global tournament after 30 years due to security concerns, was cleared by the ICC to host the tournament, but the big boys India were not satisfied.
Why is India firm favourites to win the championship?
They are playing on familiar turf, not having the challenge like other teams to play at different venues. Hence, they have prepared a surface to their advantage in playing 4 spinners, which is their strength. India has world class spinners in Varun Chakravarthi tagged as the mystery spinner introduced to the squad late in the tournament, Kuldeep Yadev, the left arm wrist spinner, two fantastic all rounders the south Paw luxury of Ravindra Jadeja and Axer Patel. India is even blessed with a seam up specialist who clicks 140 km in Mohammad Shami. They also have the bowling arm of Hardik Pandya, who is not a part-time bowling option, but a regular in the two white ball formats.
India has an awesome batting lineup, some experts state even at a higher rating than Australia.
Rohit Sharma, tagged as the hit man, has a highest score of 41 in this competition, but he is due for a big one. Knowing his past record, he saves his best for a big occasion.
Shubman Gill and Virat Kholi have already made centuries in this tournament whilst Kholi looks stable. Shubman Gill has the talent to open his shoulders, basically, it’s only a matter of time. Shreyes Ayer is a fine batter against spin hence, he will take the Mitchell Santner threat out of the equation.
New Zealand knows the endless batting threat of India. K.L. Rahul is batting at 6 which conveys a clear credebility visual to the Kiwis.
Axer Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Hardick Pandya would have batted up the order if they were playing for any other team other than India. In fact, they are proper batting all rounders.
India is so strong with endless resources that they have benched Rishab Pant, Sanju Samson, and a host of others who will do the job for the big boys at the wink of an eyelid.
Rachin Ravindra told the media that he is proud that New Zealand plays on the given venue and takes the challenge as an opportunity, we hope you read between the lines of what he meant.
New Zealand has a quality seam cordon in Matt Henry, who took 5 for 42 in black caps outing against India at the same venue in the league stage, Kyle Jammison tall in stature hits the deck hard with the new ball whilst William O ‘ Rourke is the third seamer for New Zealand. Mitchell Santner will expect his new ball bowlers to deliver whilst Santner will be more concerned about damage control with his orthodox spin, whilst his 5th and 6th option of Michael Bracewell and Glenn Philips are more in the part time category.
New Zealand is definitely one step ahead of India in the fielding cordon. They are sharp inside the 30-meter circle and display out of the box levels and their capabilities in swallowing up opportunities with minimum of dropped catches.
Finally, it’s up to Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra to come good in the finals. Both players have centuries in this competition including Will Young, the opener. It is a prerequisite that the top three batters clicking for New Zealand will decide their fate.
Darryl Mitchell , Thomas Lathem, Glenn Philips, and Michael Bracewell are quality batters, especially Tom Latham as an accumulator and Glenn Philips as a carnage specialist.
Big question: Can the Kiwi batters overcome the challenge of the 4-man Indian spin cordon ?
Let me kick that question to touch.
