Courtesy: BCCI/NZC
The stage is set for a cracking finale of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 tournament as India and New Zealand will lock horns at the Dubai International Stadium on March 9. There is a lot of anticipation for a very closely contested match between these two heavyweights. The New Zealand team recently travelled to Dubai, which is the venue for the final after coming out victorious against South Africa in the semi-final in Lahore. As the teams prepared for their Sunday showdown, the New Zealand coach Gary Stead spoke to the media regarding this big fixture. Of all the questions posed at the coach, one was about how New Zealand planned to deal with Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy.
Notably, Varun Chakravarthy, who picked up a fifer against New Zealand in their group stage encounter, has been a menace in the Indian bowling unit. Stead appreciated the quality of Varun and went on to say that the New Zealand batters will have to look for certain cues when facing him. He said, “There is no doubt that he is a class bowler, he showed his skills against us last time and is a big threat in the game so, we’ll be putting our thinking caps on around to see how we can nullify that.”
Redemption arc complete for Varun Chakravarthy?
Varun Chakravarthy, who wasn’t part of the Indian starting XI in the first two group stage matches of the Champions Trophy, was brought into the team in the third match against New Zealand and delivered instantly by picking up a fifer. He also played against Australia in the semi-finals where he picked up the all important wicket of Travis Head, right on the first delivery that was bowled by him to the left-hander in Dubai.
With India playing New Zealand on Sunday, there is little doubt that Varun Chakravarthy will be a part of the playing XI alongside three other spinners. Just like the last time, Chakravarthy will look to bowl some good spells and use his spin variations to hopefully lead India to title victory.
