Team India's No.4 Shreyas Iyer had 'Hitman' written on his bat as he raised his bat after completing his half-century during the Champions Trophy 2025 clash against New Zealand on Sunday in Dubai. The word 'Hitman' was seen written just below the bat handle, signalling it was Rohit Sharma's as it is the Indian captain's nickname.
The right-handed batter had walked into the crease in the first powerplay itself when Rohit Sharma holed out to square leg for 15 off Kyle Jamieson's bowling. However, he has batted splendidly, bringing up a patient half-century and building a 98-run partnership with Axar Patel, who perished for 42.
I’ve seen Pant fans saying that he saves team from collapse Now where are those guys? He doesn't even come close to Shreyas Iyer in ODIs Iyer was the highest run scorer at no 4 in 23 WC and pant doesn't have WC fifty yet #INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/ML2ZRszuj0
— Aditya Soni (@imAdsoni) March 2, 2025
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner opt to bowl first in Dubai
The toss in Dubai on Sunday fell in Mitchell Santner's favour as the left-arm spinner opted to first first. Both teams have carried out one change, with the Men in Blue resting pacer Harshit Rana and bringing in Varun Chakravarthy. The Kiwis have brought in Daryl Mitchell, while Devon Conway misses out.
New Zealand playing XI: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William ORourke
Team India playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
The winner of this match will play Australia in the semi-final, while the team losing will face South Africa.