India secured their third Champions Trophy title on Sunday, defeating New Zealand by 4 wickets in the Champions Trophy 2025 final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, ending a 12-year wait for the coveted trophy.
Chasing a challenging 252-run target after being asked to bowl first by New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, India started strongly, fueled by skipper Rohit Sharma’s explosive half-century. Rohit reached his fifty in just 41 balls, striking three sixes and several boundaries, propelling India to their fastest team fifty of the tournament in 7.1 overs. Despite the quick dismissals of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, Rohit’s departure on 76 gave New Zealand a glimmer of hope. However, vital partnerships between Shreyas Iyer-Axar Patel and KL Rahul-Hardik Pandya steadied India’s chase.
The tense pursuit ended in the penultimate over when Ravindra Jadeja struck the winning runs off pacer Will O’Rourke, sealing a historic victory.
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With this triumph, India surpassed Australia’s tally, becoming the first team to win the Champions Trophy three times, adding to their previous victories in 2002 (shared with Sri Lanka) and 2013. The win comes just eight months after Rohit led India to their second T20 World Cup title in Barbados, extending their dominance in ICC white-ball tournaments. Since the 2023 ODI World Cup, India have played 23 matches across three consecutive ICC limited-overs events, suffering only one defeat—in the CWC final against Australia.
This Champions Trophy victory marks India’s seventh ICC title since Kapil Dev’s historic 1983 World Cup win at Lord’s. The team now boasts two ODI World Cups, three Champions Trophy titles, and two T20 World Cups—trailing only Australia’s record 10 ICC trophies. Rohit Sharma also joins MS Dhoni as the only Indian captain to secure multiple ICC titles.
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