Dubai [UAE], March 8 (ANI): Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy final against India on Sunday, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner discussed the key aspects of the match, including Matt Henry’s fitness, the challenge posed by Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy, and the impact of the toss at the venue.
Henry’s absence from New Zealand’s practice session had raised concerns, but Santner clarified that the pacer was set to undergo a fitness test before a final decision on his availability was made.
“Yeah, so we’ll be going across the road and training after this. And Matt’s going to have a bowl just to see how he is. Yeah, and then I guess we’ll make a call after that,” Santner said in the pre-match press conference.
The Kiwi skipper also spoke about the challenge of facing India’s mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who has troubled batters with his variations. While New Zealand players had faced him in the Indian Premier League (IPL), some members of the squad encountered him for the first time in the tournament.
“I think guys will be better for the run against Varun. He’s obviously a world-class bowler–we’ve seen it here and obviously in the IPL and that little bit of mystery. But it was the first time some of the guys have been facing him. I think they’ll learn from the other day. If the pitch plays a similar way, it’s going to be a challenge along with all three of their other spinners,” Santner noted.
Acknowledging the difficulties posed by Chakravarthy’s deceptive deliveries, he added, “We obviously know what his threats are now. That 115K arm ball, that got me. That was a bit of a threat, but yeah, we know he’s going to be a challenge.”
Santner also addressed the unpredictable nature of the pitch at the venue, where the ball has behaved differently under lights in previous matches. While India has lost all four tosses in the tournament but still managed to win, he admitted that losing the toss might not necessarily be a disadvantage.
“It looks like a good toss to lose for Rohit–because they keep winning,” he said.
Reflecting on the semi-final against Australia, he explained how the pitch played slightly differently compared to previous matches and how teams must adapt accordingly.
“Even our pitch played slightly different to the semi-final wicket. So, I think it’s just whatever you end up doing, you just have to do it well for a period of time. I think the Aussies were probably on track to score a few more runs. But they keep trying to take wickets through the middle. And then India were able to squeeze them back to that kind of 260. And then I guess the master of a chase, Kohli, kind of helped that out,” he said.
Looking ahead to the final, Santner emphasized the importance of execution regardless of the toss outcome.
“I think whatever you end up doing, it’s trying to do it well for, obviously, a long period of time. And yeah, hopefully, if we win the toss, we’ll see what happens. But yeah, I think we’ve kind of got to be ready for it to be either very similar to our game or a little bit different. And that’s finding out what works with both bat and ball for a long time,” he concluded. (ANI)
