A ‘semi-fresh’ pitch will used for playing the Champions Trophy Final between India and New Zealand, accoding to a report by Times of India. Reportedly, it will be the same pitch where India had played against Pakistan during the league stage match on 23 February.
The four matches India have played so far have seen four different pitched being deployed but knowing that the pitch will be one where they have already played should give some consolance to the Men in Blue.
The last match at this surface was played around 14 days back which should have given it enough time to recover for the Champions Trophy Final on Sunday.
Notably, there are 10 pitches the Dubai International cricket stadium which are prepared by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB). The curator of the stadium is Australia’s Matthew Sandery who also takes care of the pitches at ICC Academy.
What happened during last match at this surface?
During the last match at this pitch, India beat Pakistan by six wickets in a one-sided Champions Trophy match. India dismissed Pakistan for 241 after Saud Shakeel struck 62 off 76 balls, while skipper Mohammad Rizwan made a laborious 46 from 77 deliveries.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3/40) picked up three wickets, and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (2/31) removed Babar Azam (23) and Shakeel. India completed the chase in 42.3 overs thanks to Virat Kohli (100 not out off 111), Shubman Gill (46) and Shreyas Iyer (56).
Kohli has been woefully out of form in recent times, but the Indian batter proved why he is considered among the greatest in the ODI format with a performance that came in a crucial clash.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (20 off 15), too, played a few audacious strokes before falling to a beauty from Shaheen Afridi.
During that match, batting seemed relatively easy in the first innings but got a bit tougher as the game progressed, making chasing the total harder.
