Virat Kohli Injured? Varun Chakravarthy OUT?- Champions Trophy Final Predictions

All eyes are on team India as they gear up to clinch yet another ICC tournament after the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. The adversary this time at the Champions Trophy is a well-rounded New Zealand team. Despite losing to India in the final match of the group stages, the Kiwis head into the final with a lot of confidence, thanks to their dominant win over South Africa in the semis. But, is that enough to stop the unstoppable force that is Team India in Dubai? Let's find out. 

Will Varun Chakravarthy Play the Champions Trophy Final? 

India likes to stick to their plans that have worked well for them in the tournament so far. Varun Chakravarthy, who was brought into the team during the New Zealand match, turned out to be a huge contributor as he took 5 wickets and dismantled the Kiwis' batting. It is very likely that Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, and the Indian think-tank will go ahead with this mystery spinner as one of their key bowlers for the final. 

Alongside Axar and Jadeja, Varun Chakravarthy might be there in the final squad. This puts the question down to whether Kuldeep Yadav will be axed or not. His performance vs Australia was not up to the mark and with experts claiming that the pitch curators will prepare it in such a way that a 280-300 score will likely be achieved by the team batting first, Kuldeep's role might become less, and the team India could replace him with Harshit Rana in a surprise move. 

No More Pitch Advantage for Rohit Sharma-Led Team India

While it's true that the curators had nearly 4-5 days to make alterations to the deck, it still remains a mystery as to how much the pitch would change from its original nature, i.e., - slow and dry. If the pitch remains the same, will India's gamble in wanting to bring Harshit over Kuldeep backfire? Kuldeep Yadav might leak runs but on his day, he can be a huge asset to the team. 

Coming to New Zealand, they received a huge blow ahead of the final with Matt Henry's injury. Luckily, they have a like-to-like replacement in Jacob Duffy if things turn south for Matt. However, Matt's availability will only be confirmed tomorrow as the team management revealed earlier that Henry did bowl in the nets despite the injury. Matt Henry is a key bowler for the New Zealand cricket team as he troubled Indian bowlers with his off-cutters and slow ball bouncers. 

Virat Kohli Injured ahead of the Final? 

Another concerning development for team India is about Virat Kohli. There have been widespread reports of him getting injured after getting hit by a ball in the ankle during practice. While there is no official update from the team India coaching camp or the BCCI, it can be assumed that the star Indian batter will be available for one of the biggest matches of his career and he will be gearing up to prove his mettle, especially if India ends up chasing. 

Team India Predicted Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubhman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami. 

New Zealand Predicted Squad: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, William ORourke, Matt Henry/Jacob Duffy