The Men in Blue captain, Rohit Sharma, was the standout performer in the summit match. The 37-year-old not only guided his team to victory but also scored a game-winning 76 runs from 83 balls, which helped the Indian team ease out the run chase under duress. For this inning, Rohit was also named Player of the Match, making him the only skipper to earn the award in a final.
After the win at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, March 9, in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Team India and the entire nation were in a state of joy. In the tournament’s conclusion, India defeated New Zealand by four wickets to win their third trophy overall and their first in fewer than a dozen years.
After the match, the Nagpur native spoke to the media to express his honest feelings about winning his second title in as many months and his first as an ODI skipper.
When asked to compare winning the Champions Trophy to winning the ODI World Cup, Rohit Sharma responded that the latter is by no means less significant than any other victory.
Since we were young, we have exclusively watched the 50-over World Cup. The Champions Trophy, WTC, or T20 World Cup were absent. For that reason, I mentioned at the time that it was similar to the 50-over World Cup for us. This (pointing to the trophy) is not less, though. You ask me how winning this feels. A trophy, you see, is a trophy. You are ecstatic if you win any finals. “And not just me, the entire team and the entire country would be feeling very happy today,” Rohit stated during the news conference held after the game (translated from Hindi).
Rohit Sharma: Aapko Kya Pata Kitna “Wo” Lagta Hain “Ye” Jeetne Ke Liye. pic.twitter.com/5WAmaw2y6S
— चिरकुट ज़िंदगी (@Chirayu_Jain26) March 9, 2025
Speaking of the match, the team captained by Mitchell Santner got off to a more than respectable start when they won the toss and batted first. Early in one innings, Kuldeep Yadav (10-0-40-2) dismissed opener Rachin Ravindra (37 off 29), who appeared dangerous. They went on to surpass 251-7 in 50 overs thanks to the knocks of Michael Bracewell (53 off 40) and Daryl Mitchell (63 off 101).
Rohit and his substitute, Shubman Gill, put up a strong 105-run partnership for the first wicket in the reply. But India had to right the ship after the openers and star batsman Virat Kohli took three fast wickets. KL Rahul (34* off 33) and Shreyas Iyer (48 off 62) then contributed with minor but significant blows to help India cross the finish line. With one over remaining, the Men in Blue prevailed thanks to the last runs scored by Ravindra Jadeja.
India
