India skipper Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami are fit and raring to go against New Zealand in the final group match of the Champions Trophy, the team said Friday.
India and New Zealand booked their semi-final spots early in the 50-over tournament and will clash on Sunday in Dubai, with the winner topping Group A.
In India's previous win over arch-rivals Pakistan, Rohit and pace spearhead Shami left the field for a short period, briefly raising doubts about the fitness of the two players.
"There's no real concerns about anyone missing games as far as I know," wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul told reporters.
Rahul said all the players have been to the gym and training and even if there were some niggles, there was nothing serious.
Shami, 34, recently returned to international cricket from a long injury-lay off and claimed figures of 5-53 in India's opening win over Bangladesh.
But against Pakistan he seemed to have some trouble with his ankle as he went off for some treatment only to return later and bowl, much to India's relief.
Rohit also left the ground with his deputy Shubman Gill leading the team briefly and TV commentators suggested the captain was troubled by a hamstring strain.
Rohit returned and also batted in his usual opening slot to hand India a quick start in his 15-ball 20.
Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate dismissed any concerns about Rohit's fitness as the team went about their training drills in the final session ahead of the New Zealand clash.
"He's all right. You can see he's batting, he did a little bit of fielding earlier," ten Doeschate said. "It's an injury he's had before, so he knows how to manage it really well. And he's on top of it."
- 'Contest of spin' -
Shami has been India's go-to bowler in the absence of pace ace Jasprit Bumrah, who failed to recover from a back injury and missed the eight-nation tournament.
India will come into the next match after a six-day game break since they last played Pakistan.
But there will be only a day's recovery between the last group match and the semi-final on Tuesday in Dubai, raising further concerns about the workload management of fast bowlers.
"I don't think rest is an issue. It's how you back the two games. If we bowl second, for Shami bowling ten overs and to possibly do it again in 36 hours could mean a lot of workload," said ten Doeschate, a former all-rounder for the Netherlands.
He said Shami might not bowl the full quota of overs if the opportunity presented itself.
"Rohit will have to manage that on the field to keep the guys fresh for the first semi-finals," he said.
The pitch in Dubai, where India are playing all their matches in this tournament after refusing to tour Pakistan for political reasons, has been sluggish with spinners playing a part.
India's Kuldeep Yadav claimed three wickets in the win over Pakistan.
New Zealand's spin force has also shone and in their previous win over Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, off-spinner Michael Bracewell returned figures of 4-26.
Ten Doeschate said the Sunday clash could turn out to be a battle of spinners.
"Yeah, I think so. And they'll have four spinners as well. So it could be a contest of spin," said ten Doeschate.
"I think coming into the competition, we weren't expecting such an over-reliance in spin, but the guys have bowled nicely and the pitch has helped a little bit."
'King Kohli' set for another landmark
Virat Kohli is set for his 300th ODI on Sunday in the latest landmark for the Indian batting great after silencing doubts over his form and future with a match-winning Champions Trophy century.
India face New Zealand in their last group match in Dubai with both teams already into the semi-finals of the 50-over tournament.
Called "King Kohli" for his prolific run-scoring, the batsman went through an extended lean patch with speculation swirling that he and skipper Rohit Sharma could soon retire. They have already quit T20Is.
But Kohli roared back with an unbeaten 100 in their win over arch-rivals Pakistan to take them to the brink of the semi-finals, which they reached after a New Zealand win.
Kohli, 36, rolled back the years with his first ODI century since November 2023 as he took his time before bossing the opposition bowlers.
Teammate KL Rahul said the veteran has still a lot left in the tank.
"That (300) is a lot of ODI games and a lot of international games and he's been... I mean words fall short to express how good a player he's been and what a great servant of Indian cricket he's been," Rahul told reporters on Friday in Dubai.
"Really happy to see that he got the 100 last game as well and he's been batting really well.
"For a player of his calibre it was about time that he scores that big century and a match-winning century."
Rahul added: "Virat and Rohit, they are the senior players and you are always looking up to them to step up and score when the big games come.
"Hopefully there's many more hundreds left for him (Kohli) and many more games of international cricket."
Both Kohli and Rohit retired from T20 internationals after India's triumph in the World Cup last year.
Kohli went past 14,000 ODI runs early in his innings against Pakistan, becoming only the third batsman to achieve the milestone after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.
The knock was Kohli's 51st ODI ton in 299 matches since his debut in 2008. He has 82 hundreds across the three international formats.
- 'Amazing' Kohli -
Kohli is the 22nd player in history and seventh Indian to enter the 300 club.
Tendulkar tops the list with 463 ODIs.
"I think that's obviously a massive achievement," New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell said of Kohli's longevity.
"Three hundred 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."
Bracewell played with Kohli at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League and said he was looking forward to facing him on Sunday.
"I saw it first hand at RCB how he sort of prepared for each match and it's very impressive," said Bracewell.
"He's one of a number of class players in the Indian line-up and they've all played a lot of cricket now."
Kohli has endured plenty of bumps along the way.
He won the 2011 ODI World Cup under M.S. Dhoni and then took over as captain.
Kohli helped India get back to the top of the Test rankings but he was unable to deliver the cricket-crazy nation a global title.
That drought, combined with his runs drying up, saw Kohli removed as ODI captain after giving up the T20 job.
Kohli gave up leading the Test side too and later talked about his mental struggles during his dry phase, including how he had been "snappy" around wife Anushka Sharma.
Known to wear his heart on his sleeve, Kohli has never shied away from a battle on the field and despite the odd controversy, is a hero to Indian fans.
Supporters invading the pitch to touch his feet and take selfies are regular occurences at Indian venues.