Exciting to play in different conditions: New Zealand spinner Michael Bracewell | Cricket News

DUBAI: On the cusp of playing his landmark 300th ODI when he turns out for India against New Zealand in the final league match of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy on Sunday, ‘King’ Kohli received huge praise from New Zealand of-spinning allrounder Michael Bracewell, who has seen the veteran batsman from close quarters during his stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru during his stint in the 2023 IPL.
“That’s obviously a massive achievement. 300 games across a career is very impressive and then to put that in just one format is amazing. I think it’s a testament to the way that he’s gone about his career. I saw it first hand at RCB how he sort of prepared for each match and it’s very impressive. He’s one of a number of class players in the Indian line-up and they’ve all played a lot of cricket now so as I said they’re going to be a challenging team to come up against but we’re really excited about that challenge,” Bracewell said before the Kiwis launched into their first practice session, after arriving a couple of days back, at the ICC Academy here on Friday.
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Meanwhile, even as there’s been a growing chorus about India, who have qualified for the semifinals by winning both their matches, getting an ‘unfair home advantage’ in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy by playing all their matches at one venue-the Dubai International Stadium here. However, New Zealand, their opponents in the final, inconsequential league game of the tournament on Sunday, are not a team which is crying foul on that issue. Having made the cut for the semifinals from Group A, the Black Caps will have to quickly fly back to Lahore for the second semifinal of the Champions Trophy, which will be held in Lahore on March 5.
Asked about India getting a definite edge due to this factor, Bracewell said there was no point discussing much about the topic. The 34-year-old pointed out that it was, in fact, “exciting to play in “different conditions”. “Look, it is what it is. It’s been decided, and that’s the way that it is, and there’s no point dwelling on that. It’s part of what makes it exciting. I personally think it’s coming to a different ground and trying to figure out those different conditions. We’re excited to try and learn and play in different conditions,” Bracewell told reporters.
Bracewell said that even though this was a match of academic interest only, with India and New Zealand having already qualified for the semifinals, the Black Caps were looking to win it to ensure momentum going into the semifinals.
“It’s definitely an important game for us. Anytime you take on India at an ICC event, it’s always a big occasion. We’re excited to play against India and the challenge that that provides. Obviously if you can win, then it takes a lot of momentum through to that semifinal. I’m sure we’ll be putting our best team out there and trying to get another win on the board,” said the tweaker. They’ve got class players across the board and so do we. So hopefully it’s a great match.
When it comes to the ICC events, New Zealand have a knack of being India’s bogey team. It’s the one team that spooks India’s cricket fans the most. Whether it was the World Test Championship final at Southampton in 2021, a T20 World Cup league match at Nagpur in 2016, a T20 World Cup league stage match at Dubai in 2021, or the WODI World Cup semfinals in Manchester in 2019, the Kiwis have spoiled India’s plans every time. It was a jinx that was only broken when India outplayed the Black Caps by 79 runs in ahigh-scoring semifinal of the 2023 ODI World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. However, that result is also now a distant memory, considering that the Kiwis thrashed India 3-0 in the latter’s own den in what was a stunning achievement.
“I think we don’t like to put too much pressure on ourselves. Obviously coming off a great Test series win, it gives us a lot of confidence that we can, and we’ve got a really good record against India in ICC events as you said. I think we like to take a game and not try and let the moment get to us,” Bracewell said.
“It’s worked well for us in the past. We just try and play our style of cricket and it seems to be a good match up so far. We’ll just keep trying to do that, sticking to our game plan, trying to figure out the conditions and applying pressure that way. It’s something that we’ve done for a number of years now and we’ll continue to try and do,” he explained.
The Black Caps clearly seem to have enjoyed their time out in Pakistan for the past month or so, having won all their five matches there-three to clinch the Tri-Series title, and two in the Champions Trophy. “We’ve really enjoyed our time in Pakistan and are looking forward to going back. It’s been a happy hunting ground for us as a team. So we’re excited to be here but also we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Pakistan as well,” Bracewell said.
“We’ve enjoyed the pitches in Pakistan and we’ve got a pretty well-balanced side to play in any conditions so hopefully we can continue to do that and adjust to what’s in front of us. That’s been the strength of our side…adjusting to the surface and really throwing different looks at teams that are suited to that surface. So hopefully we continue to do that,” he said.
Bracewell informed that middle-order batsman Daryl Mitchell, who missed the last match against Bangladesh as he was unwell, is now “healthy”. Mitchell had scored a breath-taking 119-ball 134 against India in the 2023 World Cup semis.
“I’m sure (that) if Daryl’s fit, he’ll be back playing. He’s obviously just had a little bit of illness in the last game. He’s looking really healthy around the group. So it’ll be exciting to have him back . He’s a massive part of our middle order and done well for a number of years now,” Bracewell said.