DUBAI: Sportspersons tend to be fired up for the big games in their careers. They can also be emotional. As soon as he learnt that he would not be able to play in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final against India at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday due to a shoulder niggle – he failed the fitness test on the morning of the summit clash – New Zealand pacer Matt Henry, unable to control his disappointment of missing out on the big game, broke down, failing to hold back his tears.
Even as Henry was enduring the heartbreak of missing out on the occasion, the news of his absence was expectedly met with loud cheers from the crowd, a majority of the 25,000-spectators being Indians.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
At the toss, the Black Caps captain Mitchell Santner informed that, having been unable to recover in time from his shoulder injury that he suffered while taking a catch in the semifinal against South Africa at Lahore on Wednesday, Henry had been ruled out and replaced by allrounder Nathan Smith.
The in-form Henry is the Kiwis’ most experienced pace bowler and, going into the final the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. The 33-year-old jarred his right shoulder while taking a catch to dismiss Heinrich Klaasen in the 29th over, but after going back to the dressing room, the fast bowler returned to bowl two more overs in the Kiwis’ semifinal win against South Africa at Lahore on Wednesday.
Henry’s absence must’ve been music to India’s ears. The fast bowler took 10 wickets in New Zealand’s four matches @16.70 at the Champions Trophy, with his best being five for 42 in eight overs against India at the DICS.
Naturally, former New Zealand pacer-turned commentator Simon Doull termed Henry’s absence as a “big blow” for the Black Caps in the summit clash. Henry has damaged India in the past. In the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal at Old Trafford in Manchester, he took three for 37 in 10 overs – moving the ball around menacingly in helpful conditions to scalp the key wickets of openers Rohit Sharma (1), KL Rahul (1) and Dinesh Karthik (6). Left limping by Henry and Trent Boult’s early strikes, the Black Caps bowled out India for 221 in 49.3 overs to march into the final with an 18-run win.
Smith played the opening match of the 2025 Champions Trophy against Pakistan and Lahore and took two for 20 in two overs.
Rohit loses 12th toss in a row, equals Lara’s unwanted, all-time record
Even before a ball was bowled in the big final, Rohit Sharma made an unwanted, bizarre record. Another wrong call by the Indian captain meant that he lost his 12th consecutive toss in a row, thus equaling the record held by West Indies legend Brian Lara, who endured a similar streak between October 1998 and May 1999. Across formats, this marked the 15th consecutive toss defeat for Rohit and India.
Rohit’s streak of bad luck at the toss began with the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad.
Having virtually given up on winning the toss, the Indian captain gestured at the dressing room, wondering at the futility of even going to the middle for the formality. Rohit’s reaction even left former India batter Abhinav Mukund, presenter on Star Sports, amused, “Rohit be like why go for a toss. This is the 12 consecutive times he has lost the toss. I wonder if there is a probability for this,” Rayudu said.
The last time Rohit won a toss was in the semifinal of the 2019 World Cup against New Zealand.
Before the final, India’s vice-captain Shubman Gill had spoken about Rohit’s luck with the toss in his press conference on Saturday and said that the team was equally confident about batting first or chasing. After losing yet another toss, Rohit said that he didn’t mind batting second. The Indian captain was confident of his team’s talent at chasing well.
“We’ve been here enough, batted first and bowled first, don’t really mind batting second. It hasn’t changed much, we’ve chased and won as well. It does give you a lot of confidence, takes the toss away from the game. At the end of the day, what matters is how well you want to play. That’s what we’ve spoken about in the dressing room, not to worry about the toss and to just play well, that’s what we’ve done and we have to do today as well,” said Rohit.
‘Satisfactory’ rating for Dubai pitch
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council has given a ‘satisfactory’ ratings to the pitches for the first two India matches in Dubai for the 2025 Champions Trophy, against Bangladesh on Feb 19 and vs Pakistan on Feb 23, which didn’t produce high-scoring matches. The pitch for the Champions Trophy’s opening match between Pakistan and New Zealand on Feb 18 also received a ‘satisfactory’ rating from the ICC.
After dismissing Bangladesh for 228, India won by six wickets against Bangladesh as they chased down the total in the 47th over. India folded up Pakistan for 242, and then overcame the target easily with 45 balls to spare.
