Match Preview A journey of 15 intriguing matches and 19 fascinating days is going to culminate with the summit clash as the two best teams over the period, India and New Zealand get ready to face each other in the final of the Champions Trophy 2025 to decide which team gets the "badge of honour" i.e. the coveted white jackets plus their hands on the prestigious gold and silver trophy. Will it be a third title for India or will New Zealand win the tournament for the second time? India have won the last 6 ODIs against New Zealand but they have been India's bogey team at ICC events many a times in the past winning 12 out of the 20 contests between the two teams in ICC events across formats with two of them yielding no result. Be it the 2019 ODI WC semi-final in Manchester, the 2021 WTC final at Southampton, T20 WC in Dubai in the same year, the Kiwis know a thing or two about getting the better of India at the big stage but if we include this exact tournament the rivalry dates back to 2000 when both these teams met in the final of the tournament, then known as the Knockout Cup, and New Zealand emerged victors and thus clinched the title. 25 years later, both these teams find themselves in the summit clash once again ready to pose their challenge for the title. India Arguably the strongest team of the competition so far, India have had a near-perfect journey so far. While there have been talks from various corners regarding their "so-called advantage" getting to play all their matches at the same venue, team India has answered its critics with performances. Centuries from Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli plus a fifer for Mohammad Shami saw them breeze past their first two opponents, Bangladesh and arch-rivals Pakistan. However, the big play was yet to come. Having already qualified for the semis and seen the Dubai square slow down in the last couple of games, India decided to go in with a four-spinner attack in their final group match against New Zealand and included Varun Chakaravarthy in place of pacer Harshit Rana. Little did they know that Varun Chakaravarthy would make himself undroppable and produce a magical fifer against the Kiwis as India entered the semi-finals three and zip. In the semis they were up against ICC giants Australia and once again India proved that they are the team to beat as they got the better of the Aussies chasing down the biggest target against them in ICC knockouts. That brings me to the chasemaster Virat Kohli who has been prolific once again come the big stage. He is India's leading run-scorer in this tournament with 217 runs at an average of 72.33 and has once again reminded the world that there's no one better at what he does. Shami and Chakaravarthy have led the bowling attack with 8 and 7 wickets respectively (Chakaravarthy has those in just 2 matches) while Shreyas Iyer's consistency at number 4 has been pivotal for India. All-round perfromances from Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya have played a key role too. New Zealand Every time an ICC tournament starts, specially white-ball, New Zealand tend to fly under the radar and are the dark horses for multiple cricket pundits. Histroy suggests that they have done really well with the underdog tag too and have produced performances with not a lot of people noticing. But, something was different this time around. Having been placed in Group A alongside India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Kiwis had a lot of buyers even before the start. Making the right kind of noise right from the beginning, they proved all of them right when they took down hosts Pakistan in Karachi in the tournament opener. They are the team with most individual centuries in the tournament so far, 5 of them so far. While Will Young and Tom Latham did it in the opener, Rachin Ravindra took on the mantle in the next game against Bangladesh. A couple of games later he was at the helm again, this time in partnership with Kane Williamson in the semi-final against South Africa as the duo scored another pair of twin centuries for them in the tournament. The only exception was in the game against India when they made the trip to Dubai from Pakistan and no batter scored a century with Williamson top-scoring with an 81 and it has been the only game they have lost thus far. 25-year old sensation Rachin Ravindra has been in top-notch form and is the tournament's second highest-run scorer with 226 runs in 3 games at a gigantic average of 75.33. As far as the ball is concerned, they have the tournament's highest wicket taker in Matt Henry with 10 scalps while skipper Mitchell Santner has led the spin attack with some beuatiful display of left-arm finger spin. It would be a crime if their fielding does not get a special mention. The Black Caps pride themselves on diving around and putting their bodies on the line while fielding and they have saved at least 15-20 runs in every game they have played with some exceptional stuff. Glenn Phillips has taken some catches that have been out of this world almost challenging gravity and he leads them in that front. What to Expect The first innings average score at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium has been 245 in the 4 matches played here so far in this tournament. As the tournament has gone on, the square and the pitches used here have slowed down but interestingly the first innings score has gone up with each game. In the semi-final game between India and Australia, it was a fresh pitch and probably the best of the lot so far for batting. Spinners have a big role to play, so much that India have gone in with a 4-man spin attack in their last 2 matches here. The seamers do get a little bit of help with the new ball but that does not last for long and it is majorly their change-ups which have proven to be productive for them. There has not been any significant amount of dew but still the chasing side has won 3 out of the 4 matches played at this venue. Both skippers Rohit Sharma and Mitchell Santner have said on different occasions that they won't mind losing the toss, so it will be interesting when the coin goes up. What would also be interesting is whether we get another fresh pitch for the final or a used one will be resued again. Team Updates India Having gone in with a highly successful four-man spin attack since the last two games, India are expected to stick to the same lineup for the final. There seems to be no concern anywhere that could prompt a change. Last minute changes, if any, would solely be injury-driven. Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakrawarthy, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav New Zealand Much like India, New Zealand have settled in on a successful lineup since the last couple of games and it is least likely that they will tinker with the combination for the final. They have got all bases covered and are unlikely to make any changes for the final in Dubai. Probable XI: Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Will O'Rourke Squads of both the teams India Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy. New Zealand Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William ORourke, Jacob Duffy, Devon Conway, Mark Chapman, Nathan Smith