A confident and in-form India will aim to capture their third ICC Champions Trophy title when they face New Zealand in Sunday's final.
India have thrived on the advantage of playing all their games at a single venue in Dubai, and their decision to pack their 15-member squad with five spinners has proven crucial.
With four world-class spinners capable of operating at any stage of the match, India boast a major strength alongside their power-packed batting line-up.
Except for a crazy performance -- similar to what Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman did in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against India -- it is hard to see the Kiwis having enough firepower in their batting and bowling to stop India's charge.
New Zealand, however, cannot be taken lightly. Their two ICC tournament titles have come at India's expense. They defeated India in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2000, then known as the ICC Knockout, courtesy of a sensational century from Chris Cairns.
Twenty one years later, the Kiwis outclassed India in the final of the inaugural World Test Championship in Southampton.
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 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| ICC ODI Tournaments | 11 | 6 | 5 | - | - |
| Overall head to head in ODIs | 119 | 61 | 50 | 1 | 7 |
New Zealand also got the better of India in the 2019 World Cup semi-finals and have never lost to them in three matches in the T20 World Cup.
The toss will once again play a key role. Despite Rohit Sharma losing all four tosses so far in the tournament, India have consistently found ways to overcome the disadvantage.
The first semi-final, where India chased down 265 against Australia, showed that batting second could be easier on this Dubai surface, with spin expected to play a major role.
India chased down 265 with 11 balls to spare but at no stage in the run chase did Australia look like they had the upperhand.
In fact, India didn't even need to hit second gear all through except for the last few overs when Hardik Pandya and K L Rahul hit a few sixes to finish off things quickly.
However, India's batters will be aware of the threat provided by New Zealand's spin attack, led by their captain Mitchell Santner. He has always done well against India, and what will boost New Zealand's confidence is that their other spinners including Michael Bracewell, Rachin Ravindra, and Glenn Phillips delivered on a good pitch in Lahore against South Africa's explosive batting line-up.
The middle overs will be the key battleground, with both teams relying on their spinners to take control.
India's spin quartet of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy has proved to be formidable for every opponent they have come up against, taking a combined 21 wickets between them out of a total 40 available in four matches played so far in the tournament.
Chakravarthy has proved to be devastating with the ball, with seven wickets in 20 overs bowled in the two games he has played, while the left arm trio of Jadeja (4 wickets), Axar (5 wickets) and Kuldeep (5 wickets) have not only kept things tight in the middle overs but also chipped in with crucial wickets.
Pacer Mohammed Shami has been India's standout performer with eight wickets at an average of 19.87.
New Zealand's spinners have been equally effective. Skipper Santner leads the way with seven wickets from seven matches, while Bracewell has bagged six wickets. Like Shami for India, pacer Matt Henry has been the top wicket-taker for the Kiwis with 10 wickets from four games, while Will O'Rourke has taken six wickets.
New Zealand's batting is as formidable as India's. Rachin Ravindra has amassed 226 runs in three games with two centuries while Kane Williamson and Tom Latham have scored 200-plus runs in four games, with both hitting a century and a fifty each.
For India, Virat Kohli leads the charts with 217 runs, including a century and fifty, while Shreyas Iyer has been in good form, hitting two fifties to score 195 runs and Shubman Gill has made 157 runs.
Captain Rohit Sharma has provided aggressive starts, though he has crossed 40 just once, making scores of 20, 15, and 28. His attacking approach in the Powerplay has helped India seize early momentum.
However, India will be mindful of New Zealand's pacers who rattled their top order in the group-stage clash, dismissing Rohit, Gill, and Kohli inside seven overs.
Both teams are likely to stick to their winning combinations from the semi-finals. Both teams have won a game each in the Champions Trophy, while in ICC ODI tournaments, India lead 6-5 in 11 encounters.
With momentum, experience, and a well-balanced squad, India are the favourites but New Zealand's history of upsets in big tournament makes this a contest to watch.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, K L Rahul (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav.
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