Former cricketer Virender Sehwag heaped praise on Rohit Sharma’s leadership after India defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on Sunday (March 9) to clinch the coveted title.
India chased down New Zealand’s target of 252 with an over to spare. As a result, the Men in Blue became the Champions Trophy winners for the record-extending third time.
India remained unbeaten throughout the eight-team tournament. This marked Rohit's second ICC trophy as captain, following India's T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, where they edged past South Africa in a thrilling final at Barbados.
“We underrate his captaincy, but after these two trophies, he became the second (Indian) captain after MS Dhoni to win multiple ICC titles. The way the captain has used his bowlers, the way he has handled the team, the way he has guided the team, and whatever communication he does, he does it very clearly. Whether it’s playing Harshit Rana first ahead of Arshdeep Singh or then bringing in Varun Chakravarty in place of Harshit Rana, he has done good communication with his players, and that was important. That’s why Rohit Sharma is a better captain," Sehwag said while speaking on Cricbuzz.
“He thinks less about himself, more about his team, his teammates. He makes them comfortable. He realises that if a player has insecurity, then his performance will not come. That’s why he doesn’t let anyone feel insecure in that team. He takes everyone with him. This is the need for a better captain and leader. And Rohit Sharma is doing it very well," he added.
After the T20 World Cup win last year, Rohit Sharma had announced his retirement from the shortest format for India. It remains to be seen if he gets picked in India’s squad for the Test tour of England in June.
Meanwhile, Rohit addressed the inevitable question regarding his ODI future following the Champions Trophy triumph, confirming that he is not retiring from the 50-over format. However, the 37-year-old remained non-committal about his participation in the 2027 World Cup.
