By Karan Agrawal 
India won the 2025 Champions Trophy title and became the team with the most Champions Trophy titles after beating New Zealand in the final in Dubai. Batting first after winning the toss New Zealand got off to a solid start as the opening duo of Will Young and Rachin Ravindra added 57 runs for the first wicket in 7.5 and were looking set to take the Blackcaps to a big score before Will Young was foxed by the leg spin of Varun Chakaravarthy who along with Kuldeep Yadav picked up two wickets each to derail New Zealand’s batting lineup in the second powerplay after having raced to 69 runs for the loss of one wicket in the first 10 overs. Varun and Kuldeep were well supported by Ravindra Jadeja, who picked up the important wicket of Tom Latham as the wicketkeeper batter looked to build a partnership with Daryl Mitchell, who scored a fighting half-century. Mitchell’s innings and his 57 run partnership with Glenn Phillips for the fifth wicket followed by half century from the bat of Michael Bracewell at the backend of the innings propelled New Zealand to a fighting total of 251/7
The Chase
Chasing 252 runs to win, India, like New Zealand, got off to a rolicking start as the pair captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Shubman Gill added 105 runs for the first wicket, with Rohit leading the charge by attacking the New Zealand bowlers in the first powerplay. The Indian captain completed his maiden half-century in the final of an ICC tournament, with Gill playing second fiddle, only to be dismissed courtesy of a magnificent one-handed catch by Glenn Phillips. Shubman’s wicket was followed by Virat Kohli, who was foxed by the off-spin of Michael Bracewell after opening his account. The twin strike dented India’s run rate as Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer, who walked in at number four, tried to rebuild the innings. The pressure of a dip in the scoring rate got the better of Rohit as he tried to take on Rachin Ravindra and was stumped in the process.
The Partnership
With India losing three quick wickets, the game was in the balance, and the Rohit Sharma-led side was in desperate need of a partnership. The pair of Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel did exactly that but not without riding their luck as the former survived attempt of a catch on the boundary as the fielder lost his balance with his feet touching the boundary while he was in contact with ball which was followed by another drop by Kyle Jamieson before opposition captain Mitchell Santner finally go the bater of Iyer. The 2013 Champions Trophy winners were in touching distance of winning their third title, but as is the case with New Zealand, the Blackcaps kept on picking wickets at crucial junctures of the game. Axar and Hardik got out after chipping in with useful contributions that took India close to the target, and the job of finishing the game was left to KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, who hit the winning runs to guide India to its first ICC ODI trophy after 12 years.
Captain’s Corner
Taling in the post-match press conference after the win, Indian captain Rohit Sharma dismissed all the rumors of retirement that were doing rounds after the final considering the fact that something similar happened after India won the T20 World Cup in June last year, after as three senior members of the team Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirement from T20I. Talking about it, Rohit said, “One more thing. I’m not going to retire from this format, just to make sure that no rumours are spread moving forward”. Rohit replied in his usual manner when asked about his future plans, “Future plan? There is no future plan. What is going on, will continue,” he said.