India are taking on New Zealand in the final of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, March 9. (Match Blog | More Cricket News)

Mitchell Santner called it right at the all-important toss at a packed stadium and opted to bat first on a dry looking surface.

The Kiwis will also be the services of the India's tormentor-in-chief recently Matt Henry as he was ruled out of the final with a shoulder issue.

"We're going to have a bat first. Looks like a pretty good wicket, similar to the one we played India here a week ago. Want to get runs on the board and see what happens. Obviously expected a few blue shirts, great atmosphere, great ground. Going to be slightly different from what we got in Pakistan," Santner said at the toss.

The ever-improving Malaysians, however, fought valiantly and didn't give up for a single minute. Their efforts bore fruit in the 50th minute when Shahril Saabah pulled one goal back.

"We saw how India played and what they got out of it. Hope it slows down a bit later. Different guys have stepped up at different times. You want guys firing from the start and we have done that, as have India. Unfortunately Matt Henry has been ruled out, we've got Nathan Smith coming in," he added.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma loss his 12th consecutive toss, but expressed that he would not mind batting second on that surface. India also went with an unchanged side.

"We've been here enough, batted first and bowled first, don't really mind batting second. It hasn't changed much, we've chased and won as well. It does give you a lot of confidence, takes the toss away from the game. At the end of the day, what matters is how well you want to play," Sharma said.

"That's what we've spoken about in the dressing room, not to worry about the toss and to just play well,ijogo that's what we've done and we have to do today as well. New Zealand have been a very good team over the past so many years, they tend to play good cricket in ICC tournaments. The challenge for us is to play well against them now. Same team for us," he added.

Most consecutive tosses lost by a captain in ODIs12 Rohit Sharma (Nov 2023 - Mar 2025) *12 Brian Lara (Oct 1998 - May 1999)11 Peter Borren (Mar 2011 - Aug 2013)

Teams:

New Zealand (Playing XI): Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, William ORourke

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c)win444, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy