Kane NZ best India’s spin?
dubai: The showdown between the Indian spinners and Kane Williamson will be intense on a gripping Dubai International Cricket Stadium pitch, but beyond the personal realm, it also has the potential to decide the outcome of the Champions Trophy final here on Sunday.
New Zealand are eager to end their 25-year-long wait for an ICC 50-over title after bagging the ICC Knockouts Trophy in Kenya, beating India by four wickets in 2000.
On the other hand, India are gunning for their second Champions Trophy since 2013 and could be fielding four spinners and two pacers for the ICC showpiece final here on Sunday. The title clash could be played on the same surface that was used in the match against Pakistan, where spinners had found some assistance.
In that context, Williamson’s impeccable adaptability skills and technical nous is vital for New Zealand, and he had produced a masterclass while making an 81 in the final group match against India here a few days ago. New Zealand coach Gary Stead thought that India will pursue the four-spinner strategy in the final as well, which he termed “challenging.”
“It’s probably what we expect for them to play against us, but we have four spinners as well within our squad and we think we’re pretty well balanced. But it’s always a challenge. They are very, very good spinners, all of them in their own right. So, for us, it’s just being clear on our plans and working out if there could be a match-up that we are deciding within our team that it’s the right one for us to go after. So who knows, they (Indian spinners) might have an off-day as well and that could be in our advantage,” said Stead.
Kotak plays down pitch benefits
India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak on Friday said the extended stay here didn’t offer any advantage to India, and said that such criticisms began only after the team started winning the matches.
“I don’t understand what advantage we get from this (pitch). People feel that India got an advantage after we won the matches. I don’t know what to say about that. We just played to the draw,” Kotak told reporters here during India’s net session.
Kotak said irrespective of the nature of the pitch, the team needed to play good cricket to win. “I think in a game, you have to play good cricket every day when you turn up. If you don’t play well, then you can’t complain. And if you play well, there is no point in saying whether you got an advantage or not. I don’t really think we have an advantage just because we are practicing here and we are playing matches here,” he added. “It is not that after coming here, they changed something and got an advantage,” he noted.
