Former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid has batted for an unchanged plan and has asked Virat Kohli to stick to the current plans, which has worked in the favour of Indian team till now. Dravid has asked for unchanged tactics and same playing XI for the final of the Champions Trophy against Pakistan.
“I think Virat has to stick to what’s worked well for him. India loves chasing, we saw that today. They have got some really experienced players who have played in big pressure games, they know how to handle this kind of situations and I think this is a tactic that works for them,” Dravid told ESPNcricinfo.
“People might question why are you only getting 4.8 run average in the first 10 but you know that’s how they like to set up their innings with Rohit and Shikhar, knowing fully well that they have got the power at the back end of the likes of you know, Hardik Pandya, Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Jadeja. So you know they have got some big power that can make up a lot of runs in the end as well, as long as they can keep wickets in hand, they play spin well through the middle as well. So look, I won’t change anything, India’s batting has been exceptional,” he added.
Virat Kohli as well indicated about an unchanged XI and sticking to the plans. Already, team India has seen only one change as Ravichandran Ashwin made his back in the team at the place of Umesh Yadav, after the game against Sri Lanka.
All the plans opted by the team have also worked in favour of India so far, as the team has performed well and have qualified for the finals of the tournament by thumping Bangladesh in the semi-final, easily. The only way India can now win the game is sticking to plans in the final as well as opposition Pakistan has already made changes in the group stage, and know what to expect from the players, which has not been the case with the Indian team. They are yet to test most of the bench strength, hence, India will look to go the same way in the final of the tournament, with an eye on the Champions Trophy.
It is after a period of 10 years when both the teams will take on each other in an ICC tournament, with the last one coming in 2007 during the T20 World Cup 2007. Should India win this game, they will get their hands on the Champions trophy for the second time.