Ravi Shastri's theatrics at the toss evoked a grin from Team India and New Zealand captains during the 2025 Champions Trophy final on Sunday (March 9). The Dubai International Cricket Stadium is playing host to the high-octane encounter.
Ravi Shastri, who is part of the Star Sports broadcast team, officiated the toss before the contest. He was his usual energetic self while giving his introductory speech and then announcing the captains and match officials. His enthusiastic theatrics made Rohit Sharma and Mitchell Santner grin before the coin was tossed.
You can watch the video below:
Rohit Sharma's bad luck with the toss continued as he lost for the 12th time in a row in ODIs, equaling Brian Lara's record. New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss this afternoon and opted to bat first.
"Don't really mind batting second" - India captain Rohit Sharma after losing toss of 2025 Champions Trophy final vs New Zealand
Speaking after losing the toss, Rohit Sharma admitted that they were not bothered about batting or bowling first as they had a good experience doing both over the past few weeks in Dubai. Sharma said (via Cricbuzz):
"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."
He continued:
"That's what we've spoken about in the dressing room, not to worry about the toss and to just play well, 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."
At the time of the writing, New Zealand reached 83/3 in 15 overs, with Daryl Mitchell and Tom Latham at the crease.
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