Team India captain Rohit Sharma was clearly pumped up during the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand. He was observed yelling during the drinks break, and social media fans speculated that Shubman Gill was the object of his ire for arriving late to the team huddle. In spite of his exaggerated reactions, Rohit has the respect of all the players on the team.
India then made a strong early impact with the ball, taking three wickets in 13 overs. Varun Chakaravarthy had Will Young dismissed for 15, while Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Rachin Ravindra (37) and Kane Williamson (11) to leave New Zealand on the backfoot.
New Zealand was well placed in the beginning of the innings by a 57-run opening partnership between Ravindra and Young, the biggest opening stand by any team in the tournament against India. The Kiwis’ cause was served badly by the wickets taken by Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep, though.
Rohit Sharma, who was lost by New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, did not get disturbed. “We’ve done it enough, batted first and bowled first, don’t mind batting second much. It hasn’t made much of a difference; we’ve chased and won too. It does give you a lot of confidence and takes the toss out of the game. Ultimately, what you want to play is important. That’s what we’ve discussed in the dressing room, not to bother about the toss and to play well, that’s what we’ve done and we need to do it today as well,” Rohit said during the toss.
For New Zealand, Matt Henry was ruled out through injury, and Nathan Smith took his place in the XI. India kept the same playing XI from their semi-final victory over Australia, retaining four spinners for the challenging Dubai surface.