India will be batting first against New Zealand after skipper Rohit Sharma lost his third toss in a row and the Men in Blue their 13th in the format. The clash is inconsequential but it will be Virat Kohli’s special landmark game and India will hope to give him a winning gift.
Virat Kohli became the seventh Indian and overall the 22nd player to feature in 300 ODIs after the batting maestro was named in his side’s playing XI for the Champions Trophy clash against New Zealand on Sunday, March 2 in Dubai. Kohli became the fifth Indian to complete 300 ODIs during the Champions Trophy after Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh did the same during this very ICC event.
The group-stage climax may be inconsequential with both India and New Zealand already being in the semi-finals, however, it is a crucial game for it to be ascertained which teams plays which in the knockouts with South Africa and Australia being in the final four from Group B. Kohli, who is coming off a sensational unbeaten century in the high-octane clash against Pakistan, will hope to continue his form as India carve their way out at the sharp end of the tournament.
Kohli also needs just 51 runs to become India’s leading run-getter in Champions Trophy history and surpass Shikhar Dhawan (701). Kohli has got at least a couple of matches to out-bat Chris Gayle, the leading run-getter in Champions Trophy history (791) and three if India reach the grand final of the ongoing edition.
Most appearances for India in ODIs
463 – Sachin Tendulkar (1989-2012)
347 – MS Dhoni (2004-2019)
340 – Rahul Dravid (1996-2011)
334 – Mohammad Azharuddin (1985-2000)
308 – Sourav Ganguly (1992-2007)
301 – Yuvraj Singh (2000-2017)
300* – Virat Kohli (2008-2025)
As for the game, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to field first while his Indian counterpart Rohit Sharma lost his 10th consecutive toss. Rohit anyways wanted to bat first given that India chased in the first two games against Bangladesh and Pakistan. It will be the toughest challenge for the Men in Blue in the tournament so far with two unbeaten teams taking on each other.
India’s playing XI against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy
