Matt Henry devastated as shoulder injury forces him to miss Champions Trophy final against India

Premier fast bowler Matt Henry was devastated after being excluded from New Zealand's XI for the highly anticipated Champions Trophy final against India. Despite nursing a shoulder injury from the semi-final match, Henry was unable to meet the required fitness standards during the pre-match evaluation. As the Kiwis conducted the fitness test before the toss, Henry's discomfort led to his exclusion from the playing XI. Despite attempting some drills and bowling, it was evident that he was not fit to play, leading New Zealand to opt for Nathan Smith in the crucial summit clash.

The 33-year-old looked devastated after knowing he won't be playing the final and was reduced to tears.

Henry, who is leading the tournament with 10 wickets in four matches, hurt his shoulder while attempting a catch during the semi-final. New Zealand's team management assessed him after Saturday's training session, but the final decision was made on Sunday during warm-up, where he looked uncomfortable while rolling his arm. Medium-pace allrounder Nathan Smith was named replacement in the only change for New Zealand for the mega clash.

Rohit loses toss again, NZ elect to bat first

Meanwhile, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss, and luck didn't favour Rohit Sharma at the flip of the coin once again as the Blackcaps opted to bat first.

"We're going to have a bat first. Looks like a pretty good wicket, similar to the one we played India here a week ago. Want to get runs on the board and see what happens. Obviously expected a few blue shirts, great atmosphere, great ground. 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. Different guys have stepped up at different times. You want guys firing from the start and we have done that, as have India. Unfortunately Matt Henry has been ruled out, we've got Nathan Smith coming in," Santner said after winning the toss.

On the other hand, India stuck with the same XI from the last match as they didn't want to tinker with the winning combination and went ahead with four spin options. The Men in Blue have had a seamless run to the final, as they remained the only unbeaten team in the tournament so far. They outclassed Australia in the semi-final to punch their ticket for the final, while New Zealand got the better of South Africa in Lahore.

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