Virat Kohli scored 218 runs in 5 games in Champions Trophy 2025.
Virat Kohli was over the moon and celebrated his heart out as India became the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 champions. India defeated New Zealand by 4 runs in the big final that was held in Dubai on March 9, 2025.
New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first in Dubai. Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell scored half-centuries, while Rachin Ravindra (37) and Glenn Phillips (35) contributed to the final total of 251/7 in 50 overs. For India, Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets each.
In reply, Rohit Sharma starred with 76 and added 105 runs for the opening wicket with Shubman Gill (31). Shreyas Iyer made 48, Axar Patel made 29, Hardik Pandya made 18, and KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 34* to take India home with 4 wickets in hand.
Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell took 2 wickets each for New Zealand. Rohit Sharma was named the Player of the Final.
Virat Kohli made 1 run in the final but ended up with 218 runs in 5 games with one century and one fifty. After the win, Virat Kohli chatted with the official broadcaster and spoke about the Indian win.
“It's been amazing. We wanted to bounce back after a tough Australian tour and wanted to win a big tournament, so to win the Champions Trophy is amazing. Lovely playing with a bunch of such amazing youngsters. So much talent in the dressing room, they're taking Indian cricket further in the right direction. We’re happy to share our experience and try and make an impact whenever we get a chance (role of the seniors), but these guys are stepping up massively, and that’s why we’re such a strong team. These are the things you look forward to when you’ve played for so long and have had such a long career: you look forward to playing under pressure, and you walk in and put your hand up. I think to win titles, which has been missing in the past, the whole team has to step up in different games,” Kohli told the official broadcasters.
“And you can see in this tournament, over the course of five matches, everyone has put their hand up somewhere or the other, and that’s why we’ve ended up winning this tournament. People have made such impactful knocks, and such impactful spells, and it’s only a collective effort that can win you a title. I’m just so happy we were able to play as a unit and enjoy ourselves. We’ve had such an amazing time as a team here—in practice sessions, on the field, and off the field—it’s been honestly an amazing tournament for us,” he added.
Virat Kohli also spoke about him talking to young guys and passing on his knowledge to the newcomers.
He said, “As Shubman said, I try to speak to these guys as much as possible, try to share my experience of how I’ve been able to play for so long and try to step in and improve their game wherever I can. It’s only as they rightly say, that when you leave, you want to leave the place in a better position, and that’s our effort. That’s what we’re striving for, and when we’re finally done and at whatever stage, we have a squad that’s ready to take on the world for the next 8-10 years. And these guys have the talent to do so and the game awareness; they’ve stepped up already on so many occasions and played so many impactful innings. This guy (Shubman) and Shreyas have been beautiful, KL (Rahul) has been finishing games, and Hardik is a matchwinner, so we are in good hands.”
Virat Kohli was all praises for the New Zealand team as well. He also specially mentioned Kane Williamson, his friend.
“We've always been in awe of what they (New Zealand) can do with the limited number of players they’ve had over the years and just maximize their talent to the absolute maximum. Every time you play against them in big games, you know they’re going to come hard and execute their plans. No other team executes their plans as well as they do. Every fielder knows exactly where the bowler is going to bowl, and you can sense it when they attack the ball; the bowler is going to be accurate, and they know. Credit to them, they’ve probably been the most consistent team over the last few years in big tournaments, and the reason for that is their immense belief in their skills and the amount of talent that they have to utilize to the maximum. They’re easily the best fielding side in the world. Huge shoutout to them; they continue to display why they are one of the best teams in the world. Again, a great campaign. Sad to see a very good friend of mine on the losing side (on Kane Williamson), but I’ve been on the losing side a couple of times when he’s been on the winning side. Nothing but love between us,” Kohli signed off.