Team India dropped four easy chances in the Champions Trophy final on Sunday as New Zealand overcame a mini-collapse to post a total of 251/7 in Dubai. India took their tally to nine dropped catches in the campaign, the most by any team. India’s disastrous performance on the field began with Mohammed Shami dropping a regulation caught and bowled chance of Rachin Ravindra. Few overs later, Shreyas Iyer gave Rachin his second lifeline of the match, dropping a simple chance at deep midwicket.
Virat Kohli‘s wife Anushka Sharma, who was watching from the stands, expressed her frustration over Iyer’s dropped chance.
anushka’s reaction to the drop catch was goldpic.twitter.com/Ijrivitm5J
— . (@madhub4la) March 9, 2025
India captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill also wasted a chance each, providing reprieves to Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips, respectively.
Rohit, at midwicket, lept to try and take a difficult one-handed catch of Mitchell, but the ball did not stick to his hands given the speed of the shot. The right-handed batter went on to score 63, the highest by a Kiwi batter on the day.
Meanwhile, Gill slid and got both hands on the ball but it went out of his grasp, although Phillips was dismissed few overs later.
For the unversed, India also have the third lowest catch efficiency rate in the competition’s history with 70 per cent ahead of only Bangladesh and Pakistan.
New Zealand, on the other hand, have the highest catch efficiency rate and are one of the most well-oiled units.
New Zealand’s batting mainstay Kane Williamson will not field in the second innings of the Champions Trophy final against India after picking up a quadriceps strain while batting, the NZC informed through a media release on Sunday.
Mark Chapman has taken his place in the field.
Williamson made 11 after New Zealand opted to bat and was out, offering a return catch to left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
It is still not known what will be the extent of Williamson’s lay-off after the quadriceps injury.
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