Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has picked New Zealand’s ability to play together as a unit as their biggest strength ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy as well. He added that all their players know their roles well and perform to the best of their abilities as well. However, New Zealand will face Pakistan in the 2025 Champions Trophy opener in Karachi on Wednesday, February 19 as well. They will then play Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on February 24 and India in Dubai on March 2 in their other two Group A games as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “New Zealand’s biggest strength is that they know how to combine the five fingers to make a fist. They are not a team filled with superstars but they make a superstar team. From top to bottom, everyone’s role is defined, and they play their role to perfection. Everyone will do their role properly and then they take their team home. They believe in processes and planning, and that is why, they don’t choke. They actually come together and do better because processes are more important than the individuals. Everyone’s role is more important than personal glory. This team is cut from a different cloth.”
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In the same video, Aakash Chopra also said the presence of the plenty all-rounders in New Zealand’s squad as another of their strengths heading into the 2025 Champions Trophy as well.
“They are a team full of all-rounders. You will see three or four keepers in their side. You see off-spinners and left-arm spinners. Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell, all of them bat and bowl. Whoever is left out, they keep. Who has so many all-rounders?” he said.
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“The way they won the tri-nation series recently and defeated India in India before that, they are not dropping matches. They beat us 3-0 in Tests and beat Pakistan and South Africa in all three games. They lifted the trophy without dropping a single game. So their current form is good and they have excellent knowledge of these conditions,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
