Gulf countries Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are carving a niche as economic hotbeds, with relaxation of the hardline Islamic personal laws proving key to attracting foreign investment. Rules and restrictions on the cohabitation of unmarried couples, alcohol consumption, public display of affection, women’s rights, and religious freedom have witnessed a gradual easing out. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman is the torchbearer of this vision to eradicate extremism and herald a liberal era, with the UAE following suit so as to not lose its footing in the race for global prestige. While Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sector reached 50% of GDP for the first time in 2023, Dubai is fast becoming a magnet for high net worth individuals.
India and New Zealand have also shed their skins to go from forces to be reckoned with to world-beaters in ICC events. The Kiwi attack prior to 2010, carried by the injury-prone Shane Bold and Daniel Vettori, lacked depth. Now contributions come from all corners, with Ajaz Patel capturing a perfect ten in an innings, Neil Wagner bouncing out oppositions and Kyle Jamieson excelling in the World Test Championship final. They made two World Cup finals as a result, in 2015 and 2019, while winning the inaugural WTC to finally shake off the ‘nearly men’ tag. Now they square off against India once more in the final act of Champions Trophy 2025, determined to heap more agony on the men in blue given their 3-1 record in the ICC knockouts.
After England’s openers outpaced and outscored India in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final, the then captain Rohit Sharma knew push had come to shove. He walked the talk, hitting more sixes alone than Australia’s 34 in the first ten overs at one point during the ODI World Cup in 2023. India cleared the rope every 12.19 balls in T20Is in 2024, their best in any year and the fourth-highest for any team in the history to snap an 11-year ICC trophy drought. Though the pitches in Dubai, where India have played all their games in this tournament, have sought calculated aggression rather than rambunctiousness. With conditions resembling those back home, India have made the adjustments swimmingly to remain undefeated hitherto.
The largest community of expatriates in Saudi Arabia as well as in the UAE are Indians, so expect high decibel levels as Dubai hosts another big-ticket sporting spectacle after putting on display football legend Cristiano Ronaldo.
When: Mar 09, 01:00 PM LOCAL, 2:30 PM IST
Where: Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Conditions: There are 10 strips in the square at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, managed by Australia curator Matthew Sandery. ICC has used four of them so far in the Champions Trophy, and for the final the pitch located smack dab in the middle is being prepared, having staged the Group A league fixture between India and Pakistan on February 23. Then, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja shared five wickets between them to limit Pakistan to 241 before Abrar Ahmed extracted turn to knock over Shubman Gill on the brink of a half-century.
Dubai was notorious for its chasing bias but the dearth of dew – air generally contains less moisture in the spring season – has nullified any advantage to the team batting second. Two Australia games did fall prey to rain but the weather forecast is favourable both for the summit clash and the reserve day.
Teams watch
India: With the aforementioned blockbuster taking place two weeks ago, the soil has had enough breathing space and India’s selection will hinge on whether it resembles the deck for their last group game or the eliminator. Varun Chakravarthy forced his way into the Champions Trophy squad by foxing the England batters and went on to pick up a fifer in his maiden outing in the competition and the prized scalp of Travis Head next up. He is a certain starter so Kuldeep Yadav, the only bowler to go wicketless in the semi-final, might make way for Harshit Rana if the pitch is not that dry.
Tactics & Match-ups: The role of floater Axar Patel is instrumental in taking down Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra, who combined to produce an impressive 72/2 off 16 overs as India went 51 balls without a boundary while recovering from 30/3. The in-form Ravindra has a penchant for driving the ball but it can prove to be a double-edged sword if Mohammed Shami is able to generate swing thanks to his immaculate seam presentation.
Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips stood up in the death overs to put the total beyond South Africa’s reach. Since 5 July 2015 till February 24 2025, Kuldeep has bowled 58 overs between 40-50 in 43 games and conceded 358 runs at an economy of 6.15. His 25 wickets at the back end during this timeframe leave him as an attractive backloading proposition for Rohit. The same holds true for Chakravarthy, who recently wiped out the New Zealand lower order.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
New Zealand: Just a run short of the top run-getter in this event, Ravindra’s magnificent form is set to keep Devon Conway on the bench. Michael Bracewell missed his length way too often against India, giving away 56/0 in his nine overs. India would be keen to capitalize on his lack of rhythm, and if that continues to be the case Santner might ask Phillips to fill in the overs even though his job was confined to defying gravity when the two teams last met.
Having consumed ten balls to get off the mark on Sunday, Daryl Mitchell can be swapped by Tom Latham to break the monotony of right-handers if Kane Williamson or Will Young is occupying the crease. The sweeping range of the diminutive southpaw prevents India from rushing through the overs via the left-arm duo of Axar and Jadeja.
Tactics & Match-ups: High release points have caused the ball to hold a touch in the surface. Thereby, if New Zealand fancy entering the lion’s den by bowling short to Rohit, the bumpers might as well come from the lanky William O’Rourke and Kyle Jamieson, who found the toe end of the opener’s willow despite banging it in on the same spot from where the skiddier Matt Henry copped a couple of trademark pulls from the Indian skipper.
Talking about daredevilry, New Zealand should refrain from trying to buy Hardik Pandya’s wicket by throwing the ball above his eyeline because the Australian leggies went down that route and he smoked three pressure-relieving sixes to seal India’s berth in the final. Spinners must bowl into the wicket to keep the finisher with the long levers quiet, given the number of dots he faced before Australia catered to his swinging arc.
Probable XI: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William O’Rourke
Quotes: “There’s no doubt he’s a class bowler. He obviously showed his skills against us last time and he’s a big, big threat in the game. So, we’ll be putting our thinking caps on how we nullify that and how we can still score runs against him. I think when you have a wrist spinner like that, then you’re looking for cues as a batsman. And I think it’s always a little bit easier when you’re in the daylight to see those things.” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead feels Chakaravarthy’s variations would be easier to read in bright sunshine.
“It is certainly helping us. We know the conditions and the behaviour of the pitch. It is certainly an advantage to play all the matches at one venue,” Shami conceded after snaring 3/48 including the big fish Steve Smith near a century.
