New Zealand coach Gary Stead has acknowledged the challenge posed by India's mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy final, stating that his team will deliberate on strategies to neutralise the bowler.
India and New Zealand are set to clash in the summit showdown of the ICC event here on Sunday. Chakravarthy’s stellar performance in the group stage, where he claimed a match-winning 5/42 against the Kiwis, has firmly established him as a pivotal figure in India’s bowling attack.
“We certainly expect him to play after getting 5/42 against us in the last game. He's a class bowler and showed his skills against us last time, and he's a big threat in the game,” Stead told reporters on Friday.
“So, we'll be putting our thinking caps on around how we nullify that and how we can still score runs against him,” he added.
Stead indicated that New Zealand would take cues from their previous match against India in the group stage to better prepare for the final. He, however, dismissed any undue concerns over India's familiarity with the Dubai conditions.
“The decision around that's (the schedule) out of our hands, so it's not something we worry about too much. India have got to play all their games here in Dubai, but we have had a game here and we'll learn very quickly from that experience,” he said.
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He further emphasised the significance of the final being a one-off encounter, stating that the contest would ultimately be decided by which team performs better on the given day.
“When you come to this stage of the tournament, I mean, we've had eight teams at the start, we're down to two now. It’s always exciting to be in this situation, and from our perspective, it just comes to a one-off game now. If we're good enough to beat India on Sunday, then I will be happy,” he explained.
New Zealand’s path to the final has been logistically demanding, requiring the team to shuttle between Pakistan and Dubai for their group stage matches, followed by a semi-final against South Africa, and now the title clash.
Stead admitted the travel had been somewhat taxing but asserted that his side had adjusted well.
“There’s no doubt that coming here off playing Lahore and we had a full day of travel yesterday, then it just takes it out of you a little bit. But we've got a couple of days now of a little bit of recovery and planning and training towards the game,” he stated.
With the final approaching, Stead underscored the importance of mental and physical preparedness over rigorous training.
“I guess we're deep into the tournament now, and sometimes it’s not always a lot of training that you need. It’s just getting your body and your mind right to compete in the final, and that will be our key focus over the next two days,” he added.
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