Champions Trophy 2025: Rachin hopes experience of playing in Dubai will be helpful against India in final
Champions Trophy 2025: Rachin hopes experience of playing in Dubai will be helpful against India in final
Rachin Ravindra glanced through the list of the centurions as he wrote his name on the honours board at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.
After scoring the fifth century of his ODI career and guiding New Zealand to the final of the Champions Trophy, the 25-year-old opening batter admitted that even though travelling back and forth over the last few days was challenging, the team could handle it well.
“It can definitely be challenging, but I think that’s something we pride ourselves on as a group. You have got to deal with the conditions in front of you, and it is what it is. That’s why we come here early,” Rachin said.
After facing India in the last group league fixture on Sunday, the New Zealand team was back in Lahore a day later and hit the ground running. “That’s why we train and practice what we do at home to try and replicate conditions and think outside the box a wee bit. That’s part of being an international cricketer. You play in so many countries around the world, and especially in a world tournament,” he said, adding that the experience of playing in Pakistan in the recent past helped immensely.
“Lucky enough, we have played a bit of cricket in Pakistan before, we’ve played a bit of cricket in Dubai, too. So, we’re able to draw back on those experiences…”
While Rachin is yet to plan for the final against India, scheduled to be played in Dubai on Sunday, Kane Williamson hopes to “carry the learnings” from the semifinal victory to the final.
“For us, it was nice to have a game there [in Dubai],” Williamson, who also scored a century and forged a crucial 164-run partnership for the second wicket with Rachin, said.
“The conditions in Dubai are very different to those here. India is an outstanding team and plays very well. Our focus is on that game.”
Williamson referred to the travel between Pakistan and Dubai for the matches as “part and parcel of the game” and asked if the final would be his last Champions Trophy match, the 34-year-old said with a smile: “Regardless of whether it’s my last [game] or not, we want to end it on a high.”
