Champions Trophy 2025: First look of Dubai pitch for India vs New Zealand final out

India will be facing New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final on Sunday, March 09 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. There is already a lot of hype around the surface being used for the upcoming match, and experts have touted for the pitch to be on the slower side.

Amid all the talks, the first look of the pitch to be used for the grand finale are now out. It is the same surface that was used earlier in the tournament for the marquee clash between India and Pakistan on February 23, which the former won convincingly. Of all the surfaces, the one to be used for Sunday's game is located right in the centre of the field.

Gaurav Gupta@toi_gauravG

Will it spin? A day before the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final between India & New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav have a look at the pitch #iccchampionstrophy2025

04:07 PM · Mar 08, 2025

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The initial impressions of the footage suggest a nicely rolled out surface, but also seems on the drier side, where the ball may come relatively slower onto the bat. Furthermore, the usual behaviour of the Dubai surface hasn't been such where getting a 300-plus total in an innings has been easy. In fact, inning totals in excess of 300 have been breached only four times in the 62 ODIs at the venue thus far.

Also Check: IND vs NZ Match Prediction – Who will win Champions Trophy Final?

The average first innings at the venue in ODIs has been 229, whereas the one for the second innings has been 236. Chasing has certainly been the advantage for the teams playing in Dubai, as the majority of the teams have won the One-Dayers here by batting second. And hence, going by venue history, stats and records, the team winning the toss tomorrow may be tempted to bowl first to give themselves the best chance to lift the silverware.