Indian Openers Engaged In Special Practice Before Champions Trophy 2025 Final vs New Zealand

Most of the teams want to keep the environment simple and calm before a tournament final. But India displayed a different route, at least for the two openers ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The Blue Brigade’s performance in the eight-team tournament, in both the batting and bowling departments, was extraordinary. All batters of their top seven have earned a score of over 40 in the four games of the competition so far, which keeps them in shape before the final.

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill face special practice before Champions Trophy 2025 final

On the eve of the contest, Rohit and Gill, India’s captain and vice-captain, respectively, went for a hit at the ICC Academy with some members of the support staff and throwdown experts on March 08 (Saturday). They trained at the academy in the presence of the batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak, and the assistant coach, Abhishek Nayar.

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The rest of the team trained at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., but Rohit and Gill kept on sweating it out from the morning. After a while, both of them joined the team as the entire team reached the site for practice.

None of Rohit and Gill came out of the team bus as they were busy practicing at the ICC Academy. The latter attended the pre-match press conference later in the day. Under the baking sun, all of Hadik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul had a fielding session before the eyes of head coach Gautam Gambhir and bowling coach, Morne Morkel.

This is a clear indication of the Indian side not eager to take the Kiwis lightly, despite beating them in the last two ICC events. They crashed the Mitchell Santner-led side in the group-stage clash of the Champions Trophy besides knocking them out of the 2023 World Cup with a semifinal victory.

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill’s ODI performance in Champions Trophy 2025

One of the vital aspects for any side is to see their captain putting a huge score in the 50-over formats, especially if he is an opener. But the Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, hasn’t been able to crack that. He smashed a decent 41-run knock in 36 deliveries at a strike rate of 113.89 against Bangladesh but failed with low scores in the next two group clashes.

However, the Nagpur-born, who silenced his critics by putting a huge century at home against England, looked in better shape against Australia for his 28 runs in 29 balls. But he will hope to extend the impact and put up at least 70 to 80 runs with the bat in the final.

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Shubman Gill cracked a fine unbeaten century against Bangladesh in the event opener. That was just a smooth progression of the Indian opener after he smashed a century against England in Ahmedabad. But he also seemed to have lost his rhythm in the last three fixtures of the competition.

India aims to trap New Zealand in Spin web

In the group clash against the Blackcaps, the 2013 title winners used their fourth spinner for the very first time in the event, and Varun Chakravarthy’s five-wicket haul was a success, as Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel also earned vital wickets in the game.

India lost early wickets in the powerplay before Shreyas Iyer and Axar's 98-run stand for the fourth wicket gave them stability with the bat. Hardik’s knock pushed the Blue Brigade near the 250-run mark, as they restricted the Kiwis 44 runs short of the target.