David Miller reveals his pick for ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final

South African middle-order batter David Miller has expressed his support for New Zealand ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final, where they will face India in Dubai on Sunday. In a recent interview, Miller openly stated that he would be backing the Black Caps, especially in support of his close friend, Mitchell Santner.

"I'll be honest with you, I think I'll be supporting New Zealand," Miller said.

Miller's support for New Zealand is not just based on friendship, but also on shared experiences during the tournament. Both teams had challenging travel schedules leading up to the semi-finals, making multiple trips between Pakistan and Dubai.

New Zealand played their final group-stage match against India in Dubai last Saturday, before flying back to Pakistan for their semi-final preparation. South Africa, meanwhile, traveled from Karachi to Dubai after their match against England. However, when the semi-final fixture was moved to Lahore, they flew back just 12 hours after arriving in Dubai.

Reflecting on the travel chaos, Miller admitted that it was far from ideal.

"It's only an hour-and-40-minute flight, but the fact that we had to do that was not ideal," Miller explained. 

"It's early morning, it's after a game, and we had to fly. Then we got to Dubai at 4 p.m., and at 7:30 in the morning, we had to come back. It doesn't make it nice. It's not like we flew five hours and had enough time to recover and recuperate. But it was still not an ideal situation," he added. 

Despite the challenges, Miller praised New Zealand for their performance in the semi-final. Although he ended the match with a personal highlight, scoring an unbeaten 100 off 67 balls, he admitted that he would have preferred a team victory over individual accomplishments. He celebrated his century with a gesture honoring the recent birth of his son, but added that team success meant more to him.

"There were really good contributions, a couple of fifties up front. We had a really good foundation. Unfortunately, in the middle, we lost a couple of wickets too many," he said. 

"At the end of the day, it's a team effort. Everyone's trying their best out there. It would have been nice to have a rematch against India, but life is not always fair. You have to work really hard to win trophies," he added. 

Miller also pointed out that South Africa’s fate may have been sealed in the first innings, with New Zealand making the most of better conditions after winning the toss and opting to bat first. He noted that the pitch deteriorated as the game progressed, which helped the New Zealand bowlers extract more spin than their South African counterparts.

"It's not easy chasing 360 [363] even if it's a good wicket. There was no dew, so I think the wicket just deteriorated as the game went on. They spun the ball a lot more than us. They just got a little bit more purchase out of the wicket," Miller said.

While Miller made it clear that he would be supporting New Zealand in the final, he refrained from making any predictions about the outcome.

"They're both incredibly good teams," he said. 

"India have shown the world how good they really are. They've been playing some great cricket for a number of years now, and they've got some seriously talented players. It's going to be a great game," he concluded. 

The final between India and New Zealand will be played on Sunday, March 9th, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.