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Ahead of the Champions Trophy final, Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Arun Dhumal extended his best wishes to the Indian team and hoped they would bring the title home.
With India eyeing another major ICC title to add to its trophy cabinet, all eyes will be on how they counter the challenge posed by New Zealand in what promises to be a high-stakes final. Over a year ago, one victory separated India from relieving the 2011 heroics achieved under 'Captain Cool' MS Dhoni. However, a blitz from Australia's explosive southpaw Travis Head robbed the Men In Blue from realising their ultimate dream. Emotions overtook the Indian camp as Australia outwitted the hosts to stage a six-wicket victory in Ahmedabad and add a record-extending sixth ODI World Cup to its trophy cabinet. This time around, Dhumal hopes India is able to avoid such a fate and bring the title home. "I would like to convey my best wishes to team India for the finals. They are unbeaten in the tournament so far, and we hope that they can remain so in the final and bring the Champion's Trophy home. It's our third ICC tournament final in a row. We missed the 2023 ODI World Cup final and couldn't win that, but I hope we will bring the cup this time," he told ANI. The clash promises to be an epic sequel to the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy final, which New Zealand won by four wickets in Nairobi. India would aim to avenge losses to the Blackcaps in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal and 2021 ICC World Test Championship final. India won last week's group stage contest against the Kiwis by 44 runs. After posting 249 runs from their 50 overs, India restricted New Zealand to 205 runs all out in the 46th over. While there's been a lot of focus on spin bowlers stepping up in the UAE, it was Matt Henry who starred with the ball for the Black Caps, claiming 5/42 off eight overs, in an innings where Shreyas Iyer top-scored for India with a 79 off 98 balls. Kane Williamson fought valiantly for the Kiwis with an 81 (120 balls), but couldn't find support in the middle order. India's spinners combined for nine wickets, led by 'secret weapon' Varun Chakaravarthy, taking 5/42 - coincidentally the exact figures as Henry for the Kiwis - in what was just the 33-year-old leg-spinner's second One Day International. Squads: India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh. New Zealand Squad: Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William O'Rourke, Daryl Mitchell, Nathan Smith, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy. (ANI)
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