In the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, the Indian team has reached the semi -finals with two consecutive wins. Team India led by Rohit Sharma won by 6 wickets against Bangladesh. Then he also defeated Pakistan by six wickets. Now the Indian team is going to play their last group match against New Zealand on March 2 (Sunday) at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Rahul answered many questions in the press conference
Before the semi -finals, this match will not be less than a practice match for the Indian team. Before the match against New Zealand, Indian wicketkeeper KL Rahul attended the press conference. During this, KL Rahul also gave updates on Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami. Rahul clarified that all the players are fully fit.
During the match against Pakistan, Rohit Sharma was stretched into hamstring. At the same time, Mohammed Shami felt the ankle during bowling, due to which he had to leave the ground for some time. KL Rahul said, “As far as I know, there is no concern for any player to miss the game in terms of fitness.”
KL Rahul indicated that there was hardly any changes in the playing-11 against New Zealand. Rahul said, ‘I am not a part of the leadership group but I am sure it will be greed. I have been in this situation before, when you have a chance to try players. But I do not know whether it will be in the Champions Trophy or not.
The Indian team lost to Pakistan by ten wickets during the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai. After this, he could not make a place in the semi -finals after losing to New Zealand. Regarding that match, Rahul says, ‘These things were affected at that time. It was not pleasant for us not to reach the semi -finals in 2021 or not to play well in tournaments. We have learned from him and have done well in the last two-three ICC tournaments.
Don’t think about what happened in the past: Rahul
KL Rahul said, ‘We are not thinking about what happened in the past. Or what is good and what bad. We are currently living. Everyone in the team is leisurely and balanced. Everyone is thinking about the next match, not about the semi -finals. We are thinking match by match. We have got a break of the same day before the semi -finals. We want all the players to get a chance. This is my idea. But don’t know, tomorrow maybe something else.
KL Rahul also said that the New Zealand team cannot be underestimated, which defeated India in the three -Test series last year. Rahul says, ‘This is my first Champions Trophy and I think everything happens very soon. It is not like the World Cup that there is a chance to return even if a slow start. It has to play well from the beginning. No match can be said to be easy or any team is low. New Zealand has always been a very strong and competitive team.
Indian squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-Qetan), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarti, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar.
Non-Trawing Substitute: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammad Siraj, Shivam Dubey
New Zealand Squad: Mitchell Santner (Captain), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Dewon Conve, Kyle Jemison, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Derryl Mitchell, Will Verorke, Glen Philips, Rachin Ravindra, Jacob Dafi, Nathan Smith, Ken Williamson, Will Young.