Team India defeated New Zealand in their final Group A match of Champions Trophy© AFP
Team India continued its unbeaten run in the ICC Champions Trophy, making it three wins out of three in the Group A to qualify for the semi-finals as group leaders. Despite putting a mediocre total of 249 runs on the board, India managed to beat the Kiwis to continue their rampant run. It has to be noted that 9 of the 10 wickets Indian bowlers took to bowl out the opponents for 205, came to spinners. In the process, India managed to break a long-standing Pakistan record in the Champions Trophy.
With 9 of the 10 Kiwi wickets going to Indian spinners, Rohit Sharma‘s men now hold the record for the most wickets by spinners in an innings of a Champions Trophy match, surpassing Pakistan’s eight against Kenya in 2004.
Varun Chakravarthy was the top wicket-taker for India in the match, with figures of 5/42 in 10 overs. Kuldeep Yadav struck twice while Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel bagged a wicket each.
India’s spin dominance against the Kiwis has given the team management a big selection headache ahead of the semi-final against Australia. India fielded 4 spinners in their final Group B game, benching pacer Harshit Rana.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels the team should play the same combination against the Aussies in the semi-final.
“I think I would go with the same eleven now because the turnaround time is less than 48 hours. The square is a little tired at the moment; people have run on the pitch that is going to be used the day after, so the spinners will again come into play,” said Shastri in an ICC video posted on their Instagram.
Shastri held big praise for Chakaravarthy who made his Champions Trophy debut in the match.
“If you see his current form, and I always believe in current form – it’s vital and when you look at his body language, his self-confidence and his own ability and when you look at oppositions like New Zealand, Australia, South Africa that are left in this tournament, not many sides have played too much of him or seen enough of him,” he said.
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