Kane Williamson Is A Guy For Big Occasions: NZ Coach Gary Stead

It’s been 25 years since New Zealand won an ICC Trophy in white-ball cricket, but, incidentally, their last triumph came in the ICC Champions Trophy against India.

History could possibly repeat itself come March 9 (Sunday) in Dubai, with the Kiwis taking on India in the CT 2025 Final, but it will by no means be easy for the Blackcaps to repeat the feat.

India will enter the clash as overwhelming favourites, and New Zealand might need to pull off an inspired performance like Australia did in the 2023 ODI World Cup Final to beat the Men in Blue.

Luckily, the Blackcaps have experienced players and match-winners capable of rising up to the occasion, with the biggest player of them all being none other than former skipper Kane Williamson.

"He is a guy who rises for big occasions, he has done that for New Zealand in the past,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said of Williamson in a press conference today.

“Cricket is a game where runs are not guaranteed, but I know that Kane will be doing everything he can to prepare to score well. He has the ability to adapt to different surfaces faster than many other players. We hope he has a big day. He is a special player to us," added Stead.

New Zealand’s top-order is their strongest suit in the team alongside their spin-bowling, and another key cog for the Kiwis is young Rachin Ravindra, who has been on an absolute tear of late. 

Ravindra will enter the final with two tons to his name in three games. At 25, he already has an astonishing five centuries in ICC ODI events. 

Stead labeled the young left-hander a ‘special player’ and claimed that New Zealand are lucky to have him.

"Rachin is one of those batsmen who seems to be able to score at a run a ball without particularly trying hard. And his ability to bowl some left-arm spin. We are very lucky to have him. He is a really important player for our team,” the New Zealand head coach said.

Aside from these two, there is another difference maker in the Blackcaps XI, and it’s an individual capable of turning games on its head through fielding.

It is, of course, none other than Glenn Phillips, and Stead was full of praise for the all-rounder in the lead-up to the final. Notably, in the group stage encounter against India, Phillips took an absolute stunner to send the dangerous Virat Kohli packing.

"He loves fielding as much as anyone that I have seen. He practises it regularly, and he has that, I guess, unique ability to get himself off the ground, and it seems to stick more times than it does not. He is a fantastic fielder. There has been a lot of praise for him, I know, and I think it is well deserved,” Stead said of Phillips.

‘We’ll come up with plans for Varun Chakaravarthy’

It was in the clash against New Zealand in the group stages that Varun Chakaravarthy made his Champions Trophy debut, and the mystery spinner floored the Kiwis on his CT debut, registering figures of 5/42. He bamboozled the Blackcaps with his spin and ran through the Kiwi batting line-up to bowl India to victory.

Stead said that he ‘expects’ Chakaravarthy to play the final, and insisted that, this time around, his side will come prepared with plans for the 33-year-old.

“Look, we certainly expect him to play after getting 5 for 42 against us in the last game. And yeah, we'll be planning our, I guess, intentions around that as well," Stead said.

"There's no doubt he's a class bowler. He obviously showed his skills against us last time and he's a big, big threat in the game. So, we'll be putting our thinking caps on how we nullify that and how we can still score runs against him," Stead said. "I think when you have a wrist spinner like that, then you're looking for cues as a batsman. And I think it's always a little bit easier when you're in the daylight to see those things.

"But, yeah, all our batsmen will have their individual plans around how they want to combat them, and then it comes down to, I think, good communications in the middle and sometimes a little bit of bravery to take those options on. So, we're certainly up for that. We're up for that challenge of what India will bring, and we know that they've got four very capable spinners."