Sunday 09 / March / 2025
Dubai : Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy final clash against India, New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said that his team will learn from the mistakes that were made during the last group stage match and will come stronger during the championship game in the ongoing marquee event.
India will play New Zealand in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy on March 9 at the Dubai International Stadium. India is undefeated in the tournament so far, and the Kiwis have looked rock solid with bat and ball under Mitchell Santner's captaincy.
The clash promises to be an epic sequel to the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy final, which New Zealand won. Men in Blue would like to avenge losses to the Blackcaps in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal and 2021 ICC World Test Championship final.
India did not travel to Pakistan due to security reasons and played all their matches in Dubai, unlike other teams in the tournament who had to travel from Pakistan to Dubai and vice-versa during the league stage and semifinal for their matches. With teams having to adapt to different playing conditions, it has generated some controversy in cricketing circles, with ex-cricketers like Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton being among the personalities having alleged that the scheduling offers an advantage to India because they have a massively reduced travel time, play at just one venue where they know the conditions well and selected their squad keeping Dubai in mind.
Speaking on the match situation to the media, Stead said, "I think there is no doubt that coming here or playing Lahore and we had a full day of travel yesterday, then it just takes it out of you a little bit, but we have got a couple of days now of a little bit of recovery and a little bit of planning and training towards the game, but I guess we are deep into the tournament now and sometimes it is not always a lot of training that you need. It is just getting your body and your mind right to compete in the final, and that will be our key focus over the next two days."
"Decision around that it is out of our hands. We will not worry about that too much. India have got to play all their games here in Dubai, but as you said, we have had a game here, and we will learn very quickly from that experience. When you come to this stage of the tournament, it is always exciting to be in this situation. If we are good enough to beat India on Sunday, then I am sure we will be very happy," he added.
Stead said that travelling from high-scoring, batting-friendly conditions in Pakistan to more bowling-friendly surfaces in Dubai is all about adapting.
"I think that is just about adapting and working out on your feet what you think the pass score is for the day, and I guess trying to be a little bit ahead of that. I think the danger is you come from scoring 360-odd in a game, and you think you will do that again immediately, and you go a little bit hard. So for us it is just working out what are the right tactics on the day, who we are faced up against as well, and then adapting to that," said Stead.
