IND Vs NZ, Champions Trophy 2025 Final: Why Is Matt Henry Not Playing Against India?

New Zealand suffered a huge setback with Matt Henry ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 final due to injury. Matt Henry suffered a shoulder injury while taking a catch in the deep in the semi-final against South Africa. Nathan Smith was drafted into playing XI.

The 33-year-old continued to bowl despite the injury. He finished with figures of 2/43 in seven overs as New Zealand secured a 50-run victory to reach the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final.

Earlier before the final New Zealand head coach Gary Stead provided an update on Matt Henry’s injury. Speaking to reporters, he admitted that the pacer is still experiencing soreness after landing on his shoulder during the semifinal.

"[But it's] still a little bit unknown at this stage. He's obviously pretty sore just from landing on the point of his shoulder. Hopefully, he will be okay,"

New Zealand skipper Santner had said that the management will take a final call after Saturday's training session. He had said "We'll be going across the road and training after this. Matt's going to have a bowl just to see how he is. I guess we'll make a call after that," 

New Zealand to bat first against India

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss an adopted to bat first against India in Dubai on Sunday. Speakign after winning the toss, Santner said, " we played India here a week ago. Want to get runs on the board and see what happens. Going to be slightly different from what we got in Pakistan. We saw how India played and what they got out of it. Hope it slows down a bit later."

India vs New Zealand playing XI

New Zealand (Playing XI): Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Kyle Jamieson, William ORourke, Nathan Smith

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy