Champions Trophy final 2025: Why revenge will be on Team India’s mind in clash against New Zealand

India vs New Zealand

After two weeks and 14 matches of riveting cricket action across Pakistan and the UAE between top eight teams of the world, India and New Zealand are set to clash in the final of the Champions Trophy in Dubai on Sunday.

India beat New Zealand by 44 runs in the group stage and though Team India has had an upper hand against the Kiwis lately, the Black Caps have been the cause of breaking millions of Indian hearts across 25 years in both red ball and white ball cricket.

In the final of the 2000 edition of the Champions Trophy, held in Kenya, when it was branded as ICC KnockOut, India were brilliantly led by Sourav Ganguly, who was also the highest run scorer in the tournament, taking the team all the way to the final. This tournament marked the debut of Yuvraj Singh and the emergence of Zaheer Khan as the pace spearhead.

Ganguly smashed a brilliant 117 in the final against New Zealand on October 15, 2000, putting up a 141-run opening stand with Sachin Tendulkar (69) to take India to 264/6 in their 50 overs. Chris Cairns walked in to bat after the dismissal of Nathan Astle with the Kiwis in a spot of bother at 82/3.

Nursing a right knee injury, Cairns was not even sure of playing the match, but it couldn’t stop the dashing all-rounder from playing a once in a lifetime innings to win the match and the tournament for the Kiwis. Cairns hit an unbeaten 102 off 113 balls with 2 sixes and 8 fours securing victory for the Kiwis on the fourth ball of the last over.

This was the third ODI hundred for Cairns and at that time, all his three hundreds had come against India and the win was New Zealand's first in a tournament/trophy comprising of three or more teams. The Kiwis then halted India’s march in the 2019 ODI World Cup with a 18-run victory. In a match spanning two days due to rain in Manchester, the Kiwis beat India to advance to the final.

Chasing 240 for victory, India were confronted with a moving ball in the hands of Kiwi bowlers who had the skill to exploit the conditions. India’s top three batsmen KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and captain Virat Kohli all fell for 1 run each.

Rishabh Pant tried to put up a fight with a 32-run knock and after his dismissal, a 116-run stand between Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni brought India back into the game. But Jadeja's dismissal in the 48th over and then Dhoni's run out from a direct hit by Martin Guptill four balls later effectively ended India's chances and they were bowled out for 221 runs.

New Zealand then enjoyed the greatest triumph in their cricket history as they beat India by eight wickets in the inaugural World Test Championship final at Southampton in June  2021. Ajinkya Rahane and captain Virat Kohli scored 49 and 44 respectively to take India to 217. Devon Conway’s 54 and captain Kane Williamson’s 49 took the Kiwis to 249.

But India were bundled out for just 170 runs in their second innings and chasing a victory target of just 139 in 53 overs, New Zealand finished on 140/2 with more than seven overs to spare. The match was extended into the reserve sixth day after two days' play were completely washed out.

The Kiwis then made history in November 2024, when they became the first team to beat India in India 3-0 registering a Test series whitewash. For the first time in over 24 years, India were humiliated at home when they lost the third Test match against New Zealand by 25 runs at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.

The Kiwis won the second Test in Pune by 113 runs and the first Test in Bengaluru by 8 wickets. India struggled against New Zealand’s spin attack throughout the series led by Mitchell Santner who is now leading the team in the Champions Trophy.

India unleashed four spinners against New Zealand in the group phase match and Varun Chakravarthy registered figures of 5/42 to bowl out the Black Caps for 205 in their chase of 250. So it will be a battle of spinners in Dubai on Sunday, with the Indians gunning for revenge.