After a successful T20I series team India will now look to do better in the Test series. The two-test series against New Zealand is starting on November 25 at Kanpur. It will be a huge challenge for the Indian team in the absence of Rohit, Rahul, and Kohli (1st test only). Now, let's take a look at the IND vs NZ test series preview, pitch report, team news, probable playing xi, and much more with SportzPoint.

Read Also: Virat Kohli's fate as ODI skipper is set to be decided in the next few days as SA squad to be named this week

IND vs NZ Test series :
Match Details :

2 Match Test series

1st Test
Venue: Green Park, Kanpur.
Date: Nov 25 - Nov 29, 2021
Time: 9:30 am (IST)

2nd Test
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Date: Dec 03 - Dec 07, 2021
Time: 9:30 am (IST)

Also Read: Most T20I runs by a Captain in a Calendar Year

Pitch Report : IND vs NZ Test series

1st Test :

The pitch in Kanpur is the typical Indian pitch that gives spinners a lot of assistance as the match progresses. The first two days could be favor batsmen and since it is winter the nip in the air could fast bowlers at least in the initial hours. But in all likelihood, we will see a spin dominating attack from both India and New Zealand sides.

2nd Test :

The pitch is always batting friendly, here batsmen get help and the pitch is less helpful for bowlers. The pitch is made of red clay which makes the surface very tough and the bowlers get an extra bounce. In the Test match, there is no spin at the beginning here, but with the passing of time, from the third day the ball starts to turn very much, the fourth and the fifth day is dominated by the spin bowler, the pitch here is prepared in this way so that the decision can come out.

Read Also: Most titles in Indian domestic cricket

IND vs NZ Test series :
Team News :

India :

After a Cleansweep against the New Zealand team in the T20I series, India is looking charged up for their next challenge. Meanwhile, the Indian team will be looking to seal the Test series just like the T20I series. Although, the trouble for India is that they have to play without Rohit, KL, and Kohli (1st test only) in the test series. Rahane to captain the side in the absence of Kohli for the first test only. Kohli will join the squad for the 2nd one.

Mayank and Gill may open in absence of Rahul and Rohit in the team. Meanwhile, it's someone between Surya and Shreyas who will play their debut game for India in the test format. They will play in the middle order as Hanuma is not in the squad. However, the advantage will be on the home side, but we know that the opponents are the world champions. So, the battle will be tough for both sides.

Also Read: Cricket records: Indians winning man of the match award on debut in T20Is

New Zealand :

The Current World Test Champions New Zealand will be looking to start their next WTC cycle with a series win against India. After a huge loss in the T20I series, NZ will be looking to steal wins in the longer format of the game. The blackcaps skipper Kane Williamson is back at their side after talking rest in the T20I series against India. With Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, and Kyle Jamieson on their side they are again looking dangerous side in their bowling department.

India will face a new challenge as their key players are missing the series. So, somehow the advantage has with the New Zealand side although, India is playing at their home venue.

IND vs NZ Test series : Possible Playing XI

India :

Shubman Gill, KS Bharat (wk), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Read Also: IND vs NZ 2021: Rohit-Rahul breaks the record for most 50+ partnerships for India in T20Is

New Zealand :

Tom Latham, Will Young, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, Will Somerville.

India's performance in the ICC events has been mixed in recent years. The title win over South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 ended India’s 11-year-long ICC title drought after it last won a global tournament back in 2013 - the ICC Champions Trophy.

Their latest triumph came via Champions Trophy 2025, as they defeated New Zealand by four wickets in Dubai in the final. It was the second consecutive ICC trophy for India under Rohit Sharma's captaincy.

So far, India have collected 7 ICC trophies including two 50 over World Cups, three Champions Trophy, and two T20 World Cups in 2007 and 2024.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has won 3 ICC events as a captain and Rohit Sharma has 2 in those 7 ICC trophies that India won so far. In this article, SportzPoint will give you  details on India's performances in every ICC tournaments so far.

ICC Cricket World Cup (1975 - 2023):

The International Cricket Council (ICC) started the ODI World Cup back in the year 1975. From then, ICC organized the tournament a total of 13 times. Australia are the most successful in the format as they won 6 titles so far.

India won their first World Cup under Kapil Dev back in 1983 and next under Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2011. With 2 titles India are the second most successful team alongside West Indies in the 50 overs format after Australia. 

Read Also: Most ICC Trophy wins by any team

Indian Men's Cricket team also lost two ODI World Cup finals, one under Sourav Ganguly in 2003 and another one under Rohit Sharma in 2023. Here is how India performed in the each of the 13 editions of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

India's performance in every ICC Cricket World Cup

ICC Champions Trophy (1998 - 2025):

ICC started a new tournament of the 50 overs format in 1998 called the Champions Trophy. It was also referred as a "Mini World Cup". Till 2006 the Champion's Trophy was held every two years. After that, it continues with a gap of 4 years from 2009.

In 2003, India reached the Finals of the tournament along with Sri Lanka. As the match got washed out and India were declared joint winners.

However, India finally won the ICC Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni in 2013 after defeating England by 5 runs.

In 2025, India defeated New Zealand by four wickets in Dubai to lift the trophy for the third time. It was the second consecutive ICC trophy for India under Rohit Sharma's captaincy.

Let's take a look at India's performance in the tournament so far.

Read Also | ICC Men's Champions trophy winners list

India's performance in Champions Trophy so far

ICC T20 World Cup (2007 - 2024):

International Cricket Council introduced a new format marquee tournament in 2007 as T20 Cricket started to grow globally. ICC started the T20 World Cup in the year 2007. India defeated their arch-rival Pakistan in the final that year and won the inaugural T20 World Cup under MS Dhoni.

Read Also: India's performance in every T20 World Cup 

Since then, the Indian cricket team became runners-up in 2014 and then finally lifted the trophy again in 2024 under Rohit Sharma.

India's performance in every T20 World Cup

ICC World Test Championship (2019-2025):

ICC World Test Championship started in the year 2019 as New Zealand won the inaugural WTC after defeating India in the ICC World Test Championship 2021 Final.

India once again qualified for the Test Championship final in 2023 and this time, it was Australia who challenged them. India bottled their chance to win an ICC trophy after waiting for a decade and lost the match by a huge margin of 209 runs. 

In 2023-25 World Test Championship, India failed to qualify for the final.

India's performance in every WTC

ICC tournaments is what for every cricket player is waits for. However, reaching the finals as a captain of their national side is a different kind of achievement for any player around the globe.

Meanwhile, in this article Sportzpoint will give you the details of the players who played the most ICC Finals as captain of their side.

Read Also: Player of the series winners in T20 World Cup History

Kane Williamson | New Zealand | 3 ICC Finals

• ICC ODI World Cup 2019
  
• ICC World Test Championship 2021
  
• ICC T20 World Cup 2021

The former blackcaps captain Kane Williamson has played 3 ICC finals as captain. That's include, 2019 ICC ODI World Cup, 2021 WTC and 2021 T20 World Cup.

In which, Kane led his team through the finals but failed two times to lift the trophy. However, New Zealand lifted the first World Test Championship under him in 2021.

Although, Kane loses the world cup 2019 final against England on a boundary count. After the loss in 2019 NZ again loses under Kane in the T20 World Cup 2021 final against the Aussies.

Sourav Ganguly | India | 3 ICC Finals

• ICC Champions Trophy 2000
• ICC Champions Trophy 2002
• ICC ODI World Cup 2003

The former BCCI President and Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly has guided India in 3 ICC finals. In those finals India lost two of them.

Sourav Ganguly's only victory in an ICC tournament, 2002 ICC Champions Trophy. However, that trophy was shared with Sri Lanka. Dada had two more hits at an ICC championship but unfortunately failed.

Ganguly had taken over the reins of the Indian Team after the infamous fixing controversy. A relatively inexperienced skipper then, Ganguly did well to help India reach the finals of the 2000 Champions Trophy.

The southpaw even hit a century in that game and had the match in control, but the Kiwis chased down India's target of 265 with two balls remaining.

Later, in South Africa, Ganguly led India to the finals of the 2003 World Cup but was blown away by a dominant performance by the Aussies.

Clive Lloyd | West Indies | 3 ICC Finals

• ICC ODI World Cup 1975
• ICC ODI World Cup 1979
• ICC ODI World Cup 1983

No true cricket fan can ever forget the name of the first-ever World Cup-winning captain Clive Lloyd.

Clive Lloyd is credited for leading West Indies to both of its ICC Cricket World Cup titles. He captained the West Indian side between 1974 to 1985 and moulded them into a dominant test-playing nation during his time.

West Indies won both the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup in 1975 and the second Cricket World Cup in 1979 under Lloyd.

However, in 1983 ODI World Cup Clive Lloyd's team loses in the finals against India. So the carebean great played 3 ICC finals as captain for his side.

Brian Lara | West Indies | 3 ICC Finals

• ICC Champions Trophy 1998
• ICC ODI World Cup 1999
• ICC Champions Trophy 2000

Another carebean batting giant, Brian Lara comes on the list of most ICC Finals as captain.

Lara has played 3 ICC finals as captain in his career and two of them are Champions Trophy. However, another one is ICC cricket World Cup in 1999,that they lost in the finals.

After the 1979 World Cup, West Indies had not won an ICC Trophy.

A legendary batsman, the task of winning a trophy fell on Brian Lara's shoulders. The most experienced ODI captain of the West Indies, Lara won one Champions Trophy but lost two of them in the finals.

Rohit Sharma* | India | 4 ICC Finals

• ICC World Test Championship 2023
• ICC ODI World Cup 2023
• ICC T20 World Cup 2024
• ICC Champions Trophy 2025

Rohit Sharma is now the only captain to have led his team to the finals of all International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments: ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy and World Test Championship (WTC). And he has achieved that in just three years' time.

In 2023, India qualified for the WTC final and the ODI World Cup final, losing to Australia on both the occasions. The next year, in 2024, India won the T20 World Cup under Rohit by beating South Africa in the final.

It was India's first ICC title in 10 years and the second T20 World Cup triumph since 2007.

India defeated New Zealand by four wickets to lift the Champions Trophy 2025 title. After this Rohit joins MS Dhoni as the two captains to have led India to victory in the tournament. India previously won the title under MS Dhoni's captaincy in 2013.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni | India | 4 ICC Finals

• ICC T20 World Cup 2007
• ICC ODI World Cup 2011
• ICC Champions Trophy 2013
• ICC T20 World Cup 2014

The leader who changed the face of Indian Cricket holds the second position in the Most ICC Finals as captain list.

From winning a T20 and an ODI World Cup to taking India to the top of Test Cricket, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has done it all for the Indian Cricket Team. Apart from test mace, India has won three ICC trophies under his leadership.

Dhoni's journey of being a successful captain began when he led India to the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup win in 2007. However, his most significant achievement as the captain of the Indian Cricket team came in 2011.

Under his leadership, India finally ended their 28-year World Cup drought and defeated Sri Lanka to lift their second ODI World Cup. Almost every one of you might remember Dhoni's unbeaten 91 in the final, which was one of the factors that helped India win the trophy.

Finally, Dhoni also helped add ICC Champions Trophy 2013 to India's trophy cabinet. They defeated England and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the final.

Ricky Ponting | Australia | 4 ICC Finals

• ICC ODI World Cup 2003
• ICC Champions Trophy 2006
  
• ICC ODI World Cup 2007
  
• ICC Champions Trophy 2009

Former Australia skipper, Ricky Ponting is one of the most successful captains in the history of International Cricket. He made sure that Australia remains the dominating force in International Cricket after the retirement of Steve Waugh. 

Ponting led Australia in 77 Tests, 230 ODIs, and 17 T20Is.
Ricky Ponting led Australia to four ICC finals in his career.

Meanwhile, he wins four of them and became the most successful captain in cricket history. A fascinating thing about these four trophy wins is that they all came during just seven years, from 2003 to 2009.

Under Ponting, Australia first retained the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2003. He came out as the third-highest scorer of the tournament with three centuries and won the man of the match award in the final.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) conducts different cricket events and tournaments throughout the year. ICC tournaments are the biggest platforms in the game of cricket, where the top teams contest against each other for championship podiums.

Contributing to the team on a big stage like this will always be remembered for a long time. The ODI World Cup is conducted once every four years, whereas the Men's T20 World Cup is played every two years. The ICC Champions Trophy is where only the top 8 teams compete in each finals tournament.

Last but not least, the World Test Championship is played over two years. This article thoroughly talks about the men's cricketing teams that have won ICC trophies at some point in time. Let's take a look at the teams with the most ICC Trophies.

Read Also: Rohit Sharma in ICC knockout games

Australia | 10

Australia's sheer dominance over other cricketing teams is nothing new. For decades, Australia has been executing out-of-ordinary performances and winning trophies for the country. Out of all the cricketing countries, Australia has the most ICC trophies.

Till now the Aussies won 10 ICC trophies. Australia is the only team to win 6 ICC World Cups. The most successful team in the Cricket World Cup clinched the trophy in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015, and 2023. Interestingly Australia made a record of being the only team to win the trophy in all the countries that hosted the World Cup.

Australia won the ICC Champions Trophy twice in 2006 and 2009 against West Indies and New Zealand respectively. Lastly, Australia lifted their first-ever ICC T20 World Cup trophy after defeating New Zealand in the 2021 T20 World Cup. They claimed the ICC World Test Championship after defeating India at the Oval by a huge margin of 209 runs.

Read also: Top 8 Wicket-takers of T20 World Cup 2021

India | 7

India sits in the second position on this prestigious list of most ICC Trophies by any team. India won their first-ever ICC World Cup in 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev. Later again 28 years, the men in blue won the World Cup for the second time under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2011.

The Indian men's cricket team also reached the semifinals four times in 1987, 1996, 2015, and 2019. Meantime, they lost in two finals in 2003 and 2023.

The men in blue won the Champions Trophy thrice. First, in 2002, both the finalists India and Sri Lanka were declared the co-champions of the 2002 Champions Trophy. In the 2013 edition, India defeated England by 5 runs and won the Champions Trophy for the second time in Birmingham. Their latest triumph came via Champions Trophy 2025, as they defeated New Zealand by four wickets in Dubai in the final.

Lastly, India won the inaugural edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 after defeating Pakistan in Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. In the 2024 T20 World Cup, India defeated  South Africa by 7 runs to lift the trophy for the second time.

Read also: India's performance in every ICC tournament

West Indies | 5

Read also: T20 World Cup 2021: Man of the Series, highest wicket-taker, and highest run-getter

Next on this list is West Indies with a total of 5 ICC trophies. The first-ever ICC World Cup final was won by West Indies in 1975. West Indies once again continued their reign in the next edition of the World Cup as well, in 1979. The Caribbean team also won the Champions Trophy in 2004. Lastly, West Indies became the winner of the ICC T20 World Cup twice; once against Sri Lanka in 2012 and the other time against England in 2016.

England | 3

Till 2010, the England team has not had any ICC Tournament. But, it was in 2010, when they won their first ICC T20 World Cup against arch-rival Australia. Craig Kieswetter guided them home in the final for their first-ever ICC Trophy. Post that, they have been a phenomenal white-ball team and won two ICC World Cups since then.

In 2019, they won their first ICC Men's ODI World Cup as Ben Stokes made all the difference in the final against England in a match where boundary count helped England to win the World Cup.

England's latest ICC Trophy triumph came under Jos Buttler as they became the first-ever team in Cricket history to hold the ODI and T20 World Cup at the same time. Jos Buttler and company won the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 as Sam Curran won the player of the tournament after taking 13 wickets with the ball. Curran also was the player of the match in the final as well.

Pakistan | 3

Pakistan sits in the fourth position on the list of most ICC Trophy wins by any team with 3 ICC trophies. The first-ever ICC trophy won by Pakistan was during the 1992 cricket World Cup. Pakistan defeated England in the final and won by 22 runs.

The next ICC trophy won by Pakistan was in the 2009 T20 World Cup where they beat Sri Lanka in the final and won the title by 8 wickets. The most recent and last ICC win of Pakistan is the 2017 Champions Trophy where they defeated India by 180 runs.

Read also: "No one is more disappointed than me": Hasan Ali after T20 World Cup 2021 exit

Sri Lanka | 3

Read also: ICC Hall of fame: Shaun Pollock, Mahela Jayawardene and Janette Britti get inducted

With 3 ICC trophies, Sri Lanka sits in 5th position on this list. Sri Lanka won their first-ever ICC World Cup in 1996 where they played against Australia in the final hosted in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. They went ahead to win their next ICC trophy in the 2002 Champions Trophy. The winner of the tournament is actually both India and Sri Lanka as both the finalist teams were declared as co-champions.

The last time Sri Lanka won an ICC Trophy was when they defeated India in the 2014 T20 World Cup hosted in Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Dhaka.

New Zealand | 2

The New Zealand cricket team has won a total of 2 ICC trophies since they started competing in tournaments conducted by ICC. The Kiwis won their first-ever ICC Trophy in the 2000 Champions Trophy. Nairobi hosted the final of New Zealand vs India where New Zealand won the match by 4 wickets.

The next ICC Trophy won by the Kiwis was the ICC World Test Championship. Once again, New Zealand played against India in the final of an ICC event and clinched the trophy in the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship final.

Read also: Winners list of last 10 ICC Tournaments

South Africa | 1

With a team of talented and world-renowned cricketers, South Africa won only one ICC trophy throughout its entire history. In the 1998 ICC Champions Trophy hosted in Bangladesh, South Africa beat West Indies in the final and won the title. Jacques Kallis was exceptional and contributed the most to the team reaching and winning the final and was awarded the player of the tournament. He hit a century and picked up a five-wicket haul as well.

Note: The stats include shared trophies. The article was first written by Shreya Ghosh and then got edited by Abishek Goswami.

Hello and welcome to the LIVE coverage of the India vs New Zealand Final in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, to be played today at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai.

Exactly a week ago, India faced off against New Zealand in the last group game of the Group A. India won the match by 44 runs to finish first in the group stage.

However, India defeated Australia by four wickets in the first semi-final, whereas New Zealand posted a dominant win by 50 runs against South Africa in the second semi-final.

Both teams have displayed supreme cricketing action so far in this tournament, setting up a potential thrilling final. So just relax and enjoy the epic clash as Sportz Point provides you with all the real-time updates, team news, live scores, images and match commentary of the epic India vs New Zealand Final in the ICC CT '25.

This is Koushik Biswas and Soumit Bhattacharya who bring you all the LIVE Updates from the web desk.

Moreover, you can follow us on Twitter for all the updates. Join our Telegram and WhatsApp channels to get all the news and scores.

Indian Test and ODI skipper Rohit Sharma is regarded as one of the best batters in modern day cricket. The opening batter has achieved significant milestones and shattered several records in his 18-year-old career so far. 

Rohit has established himself among India’s top ranked batters especially in the limited overs format and has also shown a great form in Test cricket from the last five to six years. 

He is currently the fourth highest run getter of all time for India across formats with over 19000 runs. Apart from that, Rohit is also the second fastest batter to complete 10000 runs in ODI cricket. 

Along with his batting, Rohit Sharma also turned out to be a great captain. Rohit led the Indian team to the T20 World Cup title in 2024. 

He is also a kind of a batter who loves to score big hundreds and has a capability to turn the match around single-handedly. 

Also Read: Rohit Sharma in ICC tournaments for India

Let’s have a look at Rohit Sharma stats and major milestones in international cricket.

Rohit Sharma international centuries

Rohit Sharma has scored a total number of 49 centuries in his international career in Tests, ODIs and T20Is combined. 

Making his international debut in June 2007, Rohit went on score his first international hundred in an ODI match against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on May 28, 2010. 

In 2013, Rohit went on to make his Test debut in a match against West Indies in Kolkata on November 6, 2013. The right-hander had a memorable Test debut where he went on to score 177 runs in his maiden Test innings. 

Rohit Sharma’s first T20I hundred came in a match against South Africa Dharamshala on October 2, 2015. He is now the player with third most centuries in ODI cricket and joint-most centuries in T20I cricket. 

Apart from that, Rohit also comes third in the list to score most hundreds for India across all formats.

Rohit Sharma stats in Test cricket 

In November 2013, during Sachin Tendulkar's farewell series, Rohit Sharma made his Test debut at Eden Gardens in Kolkata against the West Indies, scoring 177, the second highest score in an Indian debut behind Shikhar Dhawan (187). 

He followed with 111 (not out) in the second test at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

However, he couldn’t find constant form in the longest format and could only score only one Test hundred after that, before hee was promoted as an opener in a series against South Africa in 2019. 

It turned out to be a memorable series for Rohit where he went on to score three hundreds in three matches, including his maiden double hundred in Tests. 

After that, Rohit turned out to be an improved batter in Test cricket and also scored a hundred in England. 

The right-hander has scored 4302 runs from 116 innings in his Test career so far, scoring 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries. 

His highest score in Test cricket came against South Africa in October 2019 in Ranchi where he scored 212 (255) runs hitting 28 fours and six sixes.

Rohit Sharma stats in ODI cricket

Rohit made his full international debut on 23 June 2007 in Belfast in a ODI match against Ireland. This was part of the 2007 Future Cup competition, also involving South Africa. He was seventh in batting order but failed to bat as India won the game by 9 wickets.

On 18 November 2007 in Jaipur he scored his first ODI half century (52) against Pakistan and was selected for the Indian team for the 2007–08 Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia.

He scored his first ODI century (114) against Zimbabwe on May 28, 2010 and followed that up with another century in the next Tri-Series game against Sri Lanka on May 30, 2010 by not missing out 101.

Rohit comes third in the list of players with the most number of centuries in the 50-over format. 

Rohit has scored 11,092 runs from 264 innings in his ODI career along with 32 centuries and 57 half-centuries in the format. 

In these 31 centuries, Rohit has also three ODI double hundreds and has a record for scoring double centuries in ODI cricket.

Apart from that, Rohit also boasts a record for the highest individuals score in ODI cricket. During a match against Sri Lanka in Kolkata on November 13, 2014, Rohit went on to smash a record 264(173) runs amassing 33 fours and nine sixes. His record is still untouched by many of the great cricketers. 

Rohit Sharma also had a memorable campaign in the 2019 ODI World Cup in England where he went on to amass 648 runs in nine matches with five hundreds. 

Also Read: Most ICC Finals as captain

Rohit Sharma stats in T20I cricket 

Talking about the T20I format, Rohit Sharma has shattered several records in the shortest format of the game. 

He joins the list with Australia’s Glenn Maxwell to score the most number of centuries in T20I cricket with 5 hundreds to his name. He is currently the all-time leading run scorer in the T20I format with 4231 runs in 150 innings hitting 32 half-centuries.

Rohit also boasts a record for scoring the fastest T20I century for India. During a match against Sri Lanka in Indore on December 22, 2017, Rohit went on to smash 118(43) with 12 fours and 10 sixes firing his hundred in just 35 balls.

His highest score in T20Is came against Afghanistan in Bengaluru on January 17, 2024, where he smashed 121*(69) runs. 

Notably, Rohit retired from T20I cricket after leading India to T20 World Cup win in Barbados on June 29, 2024.

Rohit was included in India's squad for the 2007 ICC World T20 and made his mark by scoring an unbeaten 50 off 40 delivery in the quarterfinals against hosts South Africa.

This allowed India to win the game by 37 runs and they defeated Pakistan in the final when Rohit scored 30 (not out) from 16 deliveries.