New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to field in the final Group A game in the ongoing edition of the Champions Trophy. It was the 10th consecutive toss lost by Indian captain Rohit Sharma, the third most by a captain in ODIs and the 13th back-to-back for India as the toss-losing streak continued in Dubai but both captains got what they wanted. India chased down scores in the first two games and Rohit reckoned that it will be a good exercise to set a score before the semi-finals.
Both teams decided against making wholesale changes and made just one or two tactical changes, or to manage the workload. New Zealand brought back India tormentor Daryl Mitchell after he missed the Bangladesh clash due to illness. However, with Will Young and Rachin Ravindra both scoring centuries, the Black Caps had to leave out Devon Conway in a difficult call.
For India, thankfully there were no injury concerns as skipper Rohit Sharma walked out at the toss and Mohammed Shami too was part of the playing XI. The only change for India was the inclusion of Varun Chakravarthy in place of pacer Harshit Rana, who was rested. That particular change meant that Shami and Hardik Pandya were the only two pace options for India with four spinners including Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, who provide the depth in batting as well.
The winner of the game will top Group A and play Australia and the loser will be up against South Africa in the other semi-final.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William O'Rourke