Rohit Sharma of India lifts the ICC Champions Trophy after winning the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
India kept their nerves and clinched a thrilling four-wicket win over their nemesis New Zealand at a packed house in Dubai to lift their third Champions Trophy title on Sunday. The real heroes for India were their spin quartet of Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel who exploited the conditions brilliantly and stifled the opposition batters in the middle overs. Skipper, Rohit Sharma led from the front and laid the foundation with his aggressive template at the top of the order whereas Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul showed excellent temperament in high-pressure situations and scored tough runs, playing a pivotal role in India’s victory.
RG reviews the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
India Clinch Their 7th ICC World Title
India are the second-most successful team in ICC world events and clinched their seventh title in Dubai on Sunday. It was their third victory at the Champions Trophy after their joint-win in 2002 in Colombo and then in England in 2013. India have also lifted the 50-over World Cup twice – in 1983 and 2011. They have also tasted success at the T20 World Cup on two occasions – in the inaugural edition in South Africa in 2007 and last year in the Caribbean/USA.
Australia is the only team in the world which has won more ICC world titles than India – they have lifted six World Cups, two Champions Trophies and been victorious in one edition of the T20 World Cup and World Test Championship each.
India – the best spin bowling unit
India’s new spin quartet exploited the favourable conditions in Dubai brilliantly and combined to take 26 wickets at an average of 28.38 , strike rate of 37.7 and economy of just 4.51 in the tournament. They were the best spin unit of the competition with the best average and strike rate while also being the most restrictive. In the two games against New Zealand, India’s spinners collectively bagged 14 wickets at 22.1 apiece at an economy of 4.1! In contrast, India’s pacers managed to pick just two wickets at an average of 70.5 and economy of 7.05 in these two encounters.
Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the Indian spinners with nine wickets at 15.1 apiece at an economy of 4.5. Six of his nine dismissals were of the top 6 opposition batters. He picked up a couple of crucial wickets in the powerplay where he conceded just 33 runs off 30 deliveries in the tournament.
Kuldeep Yadav was the highest impact bowler in the final changing the match on its head with his twin blows of Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson in successive overs. Jadeja and Patel were phenomenally restrictive bowling a tight line and length and had a combined economy of 4.35 in the tournament.
Rohit’s Aggressive Template
Rohit Sharma continued to play self-less cricket, leading from the front and taking the initiative at the top of the order. It was his 76 off 83 deliveries which gave India the impetus at the start in the run-chase in the final before the New Zealand spinners tightened the screws in the middle overs. Rohit hammered 153 runs off just 137 deliveries at a rate of 111.7 in the powerplay in the tournament and eased the pressure on the middle-order.
Shreyas’ Magical Consistency
Shreyas Iyer was India’s batter of the tournament. He did not score big runs but made invaluable contributions in almost every encounter scoring tough runs under pressure. Iyer was the second-highest run-getter of the tournament with 243 runs in five innings which included two half-centuries.
Iyer partnered with Virat Kohli and put together a match-defining 114-run stand for the third-wicket with Pakistan. He came out to bat at 22/2 which worsened to 30/3 against New Zealand and top-scored for India with a fluent 79 off 98 deliveries on a difficult wicket – his knock was pivotal in taking India close to 250 which ultimately turned out to be a match-winning total. Iyer again absorbed the pressure of early wickets in the semi-final against Australia, once again combining with Kohli for a critical 91-run stand for the third-wicket.
And last but not the least, Iyer weathered the storm and added calm to the proceedings in the middle overs keeping the New Zealand spinners at bay in the final. His 48 off 62 deliveries took India to a position of safety from where they controlled the match and eventually went on to lift the title.
Rachin Ravindra – the Best batter of the Tournament
Ravindra was the leading run-getter of the tournament with 263 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 106.5 including two hundreds. Ravindra absorbed the pressure of two early wickets and smashed a masterclass unbeaten 112 off just 105 deliveries in a 237-run chase against Bangladesh before hammering 108 off 101 deliveries against South Africa in the semi-final.
Nikhil Narain is a die-hard cricket romantic, published author, and has worked for some of the leading digital websites and broadcasters in India and overseas. An alumnus of the London School of Economics, Nikhil's forte is using data and numbers creatively to weave interesting stories and revolutionize the way cricket statistics are generated and analyzed.
