India-Pakistan pitch to be used for Champions Trophy final
A slow, tricky pitch that hosted the marquee India vs Pakistan clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025 will now host the grand finale on Sunday, March 09, between India and New Zealand.
As seen during the India-Pakistan game, the Mohammad Rizwan-led side was bundled out for 241 in the first innings, which took 42.3 overs for the Men in Blue to chase down, indicating a stagnant surface. Similarly, the pitch for the ultimate clash is also expected to have a dull nature, which is known to offer a great deal of assistance to the spinners. As a result, the team winning the toss on Sunday would be tempted to bat first and set a target for the opposition.
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According to Cricbuzz, this is the only pitch being reused in the entire tournament, as the International Cricket Council (ICC) has used four different surfaces for all of the games hosted here so far. The report further read comments of India’s batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak, who has opined his take on the importance of the surface being used for the final.
“In every match, the wicket changes slightly. As a batting coach, how do you assess our batsmen’s ability to adapt? While the wicket does change a bit, its overall nature hasn’t shifted much. However, the batting has been excellent. And secondly, we’ve been fortunate to get solid starts, and on occasions when those starts were lacking, the middle order stepped up,” Kotak was quoted as saying.
India has been unscathed in the tournament so far, while the BlackCaps’ only loss came against the Men in Blue during the Group A fixture. The game was held at the same venue, but on a different pitch where the Indians were able to restrict Mitchell Santner’s batters for 205, after setting them a 250-run target in the first innings. Varun Chakravarthy, who took a fifer in that encounter, will be hoping to put pressure on the Kiwi batters once again.
