Published: Mar 02, 2025, 04:10 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 02, 2025, 04:10 PM (IST)
Indian team is facing New Zealand in their last group-stage clash, with both the teams having already secured their names in the semifinals. Now the winner of this clash will top their Group, and face Australia in the semis.
New Zealand had won the toss and decided to bowl first. Indian team saw a change in their playing XI, as Harshit Rana got put to rest and Varun Chakravarthy came in. Varun was not included in the squad initially, but then Indian team saw last-minute changes as they saw impressive performance from the spinner in England series.
Varun Chakravarthy played ODI against England, but was not included in the first two matches of the Champions Trophy 2025. Varun can turn out and give better performance against the teams who usually struggle against spinners, so there could be a chance that he can be given a spot in the semifinal, and even in the finals if he manages to give out impressive outcomes against New Zealand.
“Was anyway looking to bat first, wanted to see what we could do upfront and then challenge our bowlers since we chased on both games. Approach will be very similar to the previous games, just trying to do the same things. One change for us – Harshit has been rested, Varun is playing for us. It is all about bowling in partnerships, in both games we have combined to pick 19 wickets. Our spinners have restricted them well and then the seamers have got the wickets,” Rohit Sharma said after losing the toss.
India’s playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
