Rohit & Co. celebrate with the trophy.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images
It had been 12 years since M.S. Dhoni led India to its second Champions Trophy triumph in 2013.
While the Men in Blue have been one of the most consistent sides in the 50-over format, failing to go the distance in an ICC event had taken the sheen off it.
The side came within one win of ending that drought two years ago during the World Cup but fell at the final hurdle after winning every match until then.
When Rohit Sharma lifted the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 following India’s four-wicket win over New Zealand in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, it was just reward for one of the strongest teams in modern-day cricket.
Since 2022, India has been the standout outfit in ODIs, winning 49 out of the 70 games — the most by any team.
Over the last three weeks, Rohit’s men showed why they are the top-ranked side in the world. They steamrollered every opponent and finished on top.
More impressive than the victory was how the team went about its business. It was a stirring campaign planned meticulously but flexible enough to think out of the box and take bold calls.
Right from the selection process, the management got everything spot on. At the eleventh hour, Varun Chakaravarthy came in as a fifth spin option keeping in view Dubai’s slow and sluggish pitches. That Varun replaced a batter (Yashasvi Jaiswal) surprised many.
One rarely witnesses four spinners play an active role in the limited-overs format. Yet, there was a willingness to experiment, which proved to be a masterstroke and a game-changer in the last three matches, including the semifinal and final.
The decision was boosted by the fact that Rohit’s squad had three genuine all-rounders (Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel) in the starting XI who can swing contests with the bat on their own and also bowl the full quota of overs, allowing the captain the flexibility to play around with his combination.
While the off-field calls are just one part of the equation, the key is the on-field execution, and all the 12 players (India just made just one change in the entire competition, bringing in Varun for Harshit Rana) left a lasting impression.
“We saw that the people who got the ball played their role. The players who got the opportunity to bat won the game. We didn’t see only one player making runs in the tournament,” said Rohit.
“People made their small contributions. We knew that wickets were a bit challenging here and they wouldn’t be easy for everyone. So, it is very important to make contributions from top to bottom, which we did very well.”
Though there is no denying that India had a slight advantage playing at only one venue — helping players acclimatise — to attribute that as the key reason for the success would be a huge disservice to the high-quality cricket played.
The fact that India reached the summit clash of the last three ICC white-ball tournaments (’23 ODI World Cup, ’24 T20 World Cup and ’25 Champions Trophy) and has lost only one game while taking home two titles shows that the Men in Blue are the pre-eminent force in the limited-overs format and could well go down in history as one of the most successful sides.
Published – March 10, 2025 08:38 pm IST
