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Believe it or not!
India's group match against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday will be the first ICC Champions Trophy between the two teams in 25 years.
The only previous game between India and New Zealand in the Champions Trophy came way back in the second edition of the tournament in 2000, when Chris Cairns smashed a century to power the Kiwis to victory in the final in Nairobi.
Interestingly, since then the two teams haven't played against each other in the next six editions of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Overall, two-time champions India enjoy a good record in the Champions Trophy with 20 victories from 31 matches. In fact, the Indians have lost just two of their last 13 games.
On the other hand, New Zealand have won 14 out of 26 matches played in the Champions Trophy.
The Kiwis have been India's Achilles heel in ICC tournaments.
Before their two successive victories in the ODI World Cup in 2023, India had not beaten New Zealand in an ICC tournament in nearly 20 years.
Overall, in ODI World Cups, the two teams have both won five games each out of 10 played. The Kiwis' most famous victory was in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup in Manchester when they beat India by 18 runs in a rain-hit game played over two days. India got their revenge four years later when they thrashed New Zealand by 70 runs in a high-scoring game in front of home fans at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Head to Head: India vs New Zealand in ICC ODI Tournaments:
| Matches Played | Won by India | Won by New Zealand | Tied | No Result | |
| Champions Trophy | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - |
| ODI World Cups | 10 | 5 | 5 | - | - |
| Overall head to head in ODIs | 118 | 60 | 50 | 1 | 7 |
Overall in ODIs, India have played New Zealand in 118 matches -- winning 60 while losing 50 with one tied match and seven no-results.
In T20 World Cups, too, New Zealand have given India a lot of pain, winning all the three matches played between them -- in 2007, 2016 and 2021.
Another big victory for New Zealand against India in ICC tournaments was in the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship final, where the Kiwis strolled to an emphatic eight-wicket victory in Southampton in June 2023.