The Indian team registered a 4-wicket win over New Zealand in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on Sunday to become three-time champions. The Indian team also won the tournament unbeaten.
In fact, in the last three men's ICC tournaments, India has won 23 out of 24 completed matches and gained two trophies. This is the type of run that indicates persistent excellence, something that few teams in cricket history have accomplished. Rohit Sharma, India's captain during those tournaments, is well aware of this.
In the Champions Trophy, India played all five matches in Dubai. However, in the 2023 World Cup, they competed in nine different sites and only lost to Australia in the final. Last year's T20 event began with three matches in New York state, while the final six matches were spread out across five other locations.
"That's a great, great milestone to have, honestly speaking. It speaks to the kind of team this is. I know we reached the ODI World Cup and lost that final. But then we went to the T20 World Cup and didn't lose a single game. We went on to win the trophy here as well,” Rohit Sharma said at the press conference after the final.
"That shows the quality of the team. A lot of depth. A lot of understanding within the group. A lot of excitement. And that is how we want to play our cricket. That's what we had spoken about before the tournament—that there's too much pressure on the outside. If one game, India loses, or the match goes here and there, there's so much speculation that happens.
But the boys and the team have actually managed to put that aside and just focused on how to win games and how to enjoy the game. That's been the most important aspect of our game in the last two or three years that we've been here,” Rohit added.
MS Dhoni led India to victory in all three limited-overs trophies: the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy. However, his squad went undefeated in the 2013 Champions Trophy. At no point did Dhoni's India squad win two ICC titles in a row.
"It is a great team achievement for the team to win two ICC trophies, and to go undefeated is the icing on the cake. I have seen very few teams that have won two tournaments undefeated. We used the conditions well and won. There's no future plan; whatever is happening will keep happening.
"We lost the 2023 final after playing such terrific cricket in nine games. So with the same mindset, with the same intention, and with the same game plan, we went to play the final. But we talked about the fact that [we] don't give up till the game is over. This is what we spoke about before these two finals—that we have to stay in the game till the end,” Rohit said.
Rohit also praised a diverse XI stocked with all-rounders, with nearly everyone who played having a significant impact on the event.
"If you look at Nos. 1 to 11, the players who got a chance to bat or bowl, they have contributed in their own ways. Eventually, when everyone plays together and a lot of people contribute, you get a lot of success consistently. In this tournament, we saw the players who got a chance to bowl play their part. The players who got a chance to bat won us games.
It was not like only one player scored all the runs in the tournament. Everyone has contributed here and there because we knew that wickets were challenging here, and it's not easy for everyone. So getting all contributions from top to bottom was crucial. There is a lot of hunger and a lot of passion. These things are not supposed to be taught. It is very natural to a lot of guys here,” Rohit Sharma said.
(PTI inputs)
