"He is a big threat in the game": Gary Stead on this Team India player

It has been a hectic few days for New Zealand who have had to make multiple trips between Pakistan and Dubai for their Champions Trophy engagements Last Sunday they played their last league match against India and immediately rushed back to Lahore for the semifinal on Wednesday and were back in Dubai late Thursday eveningThus it is quite understandable that they chose to rest and recuperate on Friday and have decided to have just one practice session on the eve of the final onSaturdayNew Zealand players after their victory over South Africa in the Champions Trophy semifinal in Lahore on Wednesday PicAFPDespite all the talk about the tight schedule their head coach Gary Stead did not make much of an issue ldquoTherersquos no doubt coming here after playing in Lahore and travelling the full day yesterday did take out a little bit But we have a couple of days for recovery and planning and training before the game I guess wersquore deep into the tournament now and sometimes itrsquos not always a lot of training that you need itrsquos just getting your body and your mind right to compete in the final and that will be our key focus over the next two daysrdquo Stead saidAlso ReadGillrsquos time to thrillPacer Henry doubtfulHowever there was some unsettling news for them ahead of Sundayrsquos final Their pace bowling spearhead Matt Henry who had taken a fivewicket haul in the match against India here is doubtful for the final The paceman injured his shoulder after landing awkwardly while taking a crucial catch to dismiss Heinrich Klaasen off Mitchell Santner in the semifinal in Lahore on Wednesday Despite the injury Henry returned to bowl a couple of overs and even dismissed Kagiso Rabada to finish with figures of two for 43 in seven oversGary SteadHowever he did not bowl in the final five overs when David Miller went berserk and completed a consolatory century ldquoMatt landed on his shoulder and it was pretty uncomfortable The positive thing from our perspective is he got back out there to bowl a couple of overs more Wersquove had some scans and stuff done on him and wersquore going to give him every chance to be playing in this matchrdquo Stead told the media in Dubai on FridayldquoItrsquos still a bit unknown at this stage Hersquos obviously pretty sore just from landing on his shoulder Hopefully he will be okayrdquo Stead addedIf Henry is not able to recover in time it could weaken the Kiwisrsquo attack as they will have to fall back on Jacob Duffy who has not played any game in the tournament and his only appearance was in a triseries match in Pakistan where he managed just one wicketThus there is no doubt that if Henry fails to recover it could make a big dent in their bowling arsenal against a team that have won all their matches convincingly at a venue that is now a virtual fortress for them with their mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy posing a grave threat each time he has playedlsquoVarun is a big threatrsquoldquoThere is no doubt that Varun is a class bowler he showed his skills against us the last time He is a big threat in the game and we will be putting our thinking caps on to nullify that and see how we can still score runs against himrdquo Stead himself a former New Zealand legspinner saidldquoWersquove come against a good side I think wersquoll be better for the run we had the other day last Sunday against them Wersquove had a bit of a roll on since then Hopefully it will continue in the final as wellrdquo the head coach added exuding optimism