Dubai, Mar 8: Unfazed by New Zealand’s group stage defeat to India, opener Will Young is focused on exploiting Rohit Sharma’s side’s weaknesses in the Champions Trophy final here on Sunday.
Young has given a solid starts to the Black Caps in the Champions Trophy alongside Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra and he will be one of the key batters in the high-stakes final.
“There is plenty we can take from that (group match defeat to India) in a scouting point of view, especially in my eyes as a batter, but I am sure the bowlers got a good look at their (India) batters as well and how they are likely to approach things,” Young told ICC about the 44-run defeat to India on March 2 at the same venue.
“It was a great opportunity to see the style of cricket they will bring, especially at that venue and in those conditions,” he added.
New Zealand have shown how formidable they are with batter Rachin Ravindra in red-hot form, notching centuries against Bangladesh (group stage) and South Africa (semifinal).
The 32-year-old right-hand batter added that over the years India and New Zealand have played several engrossing games, and whichever side plays good cricket on that particular day will have a better chance of winning.
“There’s been some great battles over India in recent history including the World Test Championship and the 2023 World Cup semi-final. We’ve had some great games against India. But to be honest, it is who will show up on the day, you can’t be too stuck in the past.
“We’ll look to be able to adjust and adapt to whatever challenges are in front of us on Sunday and hope the game we’ve got and the nerve that we hold will be enough,” he added.
The opener said his side was ready to ready to follow in footsteps of their heroes in 2000 Champions Trophy final, when they defeated India by four wickets in Nairobi.
Young was just eight years old when the New Zealand overcame Zimbabwe, Pakistan and India to win their first major ICC tournament in this very event 25 years ago, and he said the magic of that fine run will give confidence to his side going into the final here.
“There were some iconic names in that squad and those are the ones plenty of guys in this squad looked up to back in the day.
“It is cool to be trying to achieve the same thing 25 years later. I was eight years old at the time and just starting to fall in love with the game. I am well aware of New Zealand’s exploits in that tournament and it was fantastic to see them win.
“I’m thinking back to before we boarded the plane to come over here, we had an unveiling of the Champions Trophy squad. Scott Styris was there that day and told a few stories about the team and their exploits in that tournament.
“It was cool to recognise the past and that New Zealand has done this before. It is just about passing the baton and hopefully we can emulate them in a couple of days,” he added. (PTI)
