India's mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy took 5 wickets for 42 runs in a convincing 44-run victory over New Zealand in their final Champions Trophy group game, sending India through to the semifinals alongside the Kiwis.
Former players lauded Varun Chakravarthy's bowling display against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy, with Ravi Shastri advocating for his inclusion in the semifinals.
India's spinners were the key architects of the bowling performance. Varun Chakravarthy (2/45) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/40) were the standout performers, while Jadeja (1/30) and Axar Patel (0/29 in 8 overs) kept the pressure on with their economical spells.
Mohammed Rizwan and PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday termed ICC's decision to hold the Champions Trophy in a hybrid model
New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips played down any talks of India getting an advantage by playing all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai.
While India are on a high after a measured six-wicket win over a sprightly Bangladesh, Pakistan are evidently tense after the 60-run loss in the tournament-opener to New Zealand.
India has not sent its cricket team to Pakistan since 2008 when they last came for the Asia Cup under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy.
Australia's stand-in skipper and batting mainstay Steve Smith announced his retirement from One-Day Internationals following his team's semi-final loss to India in the Champions Trophy in Dubai on Tuesday.
Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja were among the first ones to reach India.
'When you leave, you want to leave the team in better place'
Virat Kohli etched his name in history once again during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 clash against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday.
Fans can expect a wide open tournament in the absence of an overwhelming favourite in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy.
India play their Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh on February 20.
They will meet the winner of Wednesday's second semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand in the final in Dubai on Sunday.
The Champions Trophy tour kicked off in Islamabad on Saturday before it touched down in Taxila and Khanpur on Sunday.
'It shouldn't be that we travel to India and they don't come to our country. Idea is to settle it once and for all on equal terms.'
Former spinner Harbhajan Singh said he doesn't 'expect' the Indian team to travel to Pakistan for next year's ICC Champions Trophy.
Virat Kohli admitted that his trademark cover drive puts him in a 'catch-22' situation.
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes South Africa has a slight edge over New Zealand in their Champions Trophy semifinal clash.
According to recent developments, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the PCB have reportedly reached an in-principle agreement to adopt a hybrid model for global tournaments hosted in Pakistan or India until 2027.
Virat Kohli top-scored with a fluent 84 as India overpowered Australia by five wickets to storm into the ICC Champions Trophy final, in Dubai, on Tuesday.
The 20 league matches will be split between Dubai and Sharjah with the semi-finals slated for Dubai and Sharjah on October 17 and 18 respectively. The final will be played in Dubai.
Former opener Shikhar Dhawan believes Rohit Sharma has matured as a leader over the years and shares a close bond with his teammates, which augurs well for the Indian team.
K L Rahul is likely to be rested for the white-ball series against England, starting in Kolkata on January 22.
Virat Kohli likened his match-winning effort in the Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia to the unbeaten hundred against Pakistan.
Kuldeep Yadav has taken 25 wickets in 43 innings when he bowled between overs 40 and 45 since 2015.
Defending champions Australia are clubbed alongside India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Group A.
India's T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav believes spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been a different player since his comeback to international cricket last year.
'If they leave both T20Is and ODIs, only Tests will be left then. Will they go down that route?'
Families will not be accompanying the Indian cricket players heading to Dubai on February 15 for the ICC Champions Trophy as the BCCI's new travel policy comes into effect for the first time with this tournament.
However, confusion remained in the Pakistan camp over the grant of visa.
The ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan has seen a decline in attendance following the early exit of the Pakistani cricket team and the start of Ramadan.
Australia legend Steve Waugh believes under-fire Rohit Sharma can't afford to be 'complacent or relax' if he wants to continue serving Indian cricket.
Although India are playing a strong brand of 50-overs' cricket of late, they have some selection riddles to solve before they face Bangladesh in their opening match of the Champions Trophy.
New Zealand beat a vastly different South Africa team by six wickets in Lahore three weeks ago, two days after beating Pakistan at the same venue.
Gautam Gambhir broke into a rare smile, trading shayari with Navjot Singh Sidhu, and even (almost) breaking into a dance.
About playing India in the final group game on Sunday in Dubai, he said, 'It will be a different challenge on a different surface. Might be slower.'
'What Shami does is hit the seam and move the ball off the deck. It is dangerous as batsmen will not be able to guess easily which way the ball is going to move.'
'We were 20 or 25 under to what we were looking for.'
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