India Clinches Third Champions Trophy as Rohit & Rahul Shine:

Even with New Zealand posing a severe threat, India bagged the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 for the third time basking in the glory margin of four wickets. While chasing the 251 runs target in Dubai, India’s batting and bowling were both under scrutiny, however, they collectively achieved their target. India finished the tournament on a high and with an additional seventh ICC senior trophy to their cabinet.

India had a sensational start during the chase courtesy of their captain Rohit Sharma. Rohit set the tone for the game early, with a stunning contribution of 69 runs off 63 balls. This aided India in scoring the opening partnership of 105 runs. Favourable spin in the conditions allowed both teams to target the pacers effectively which resulted in Rohit’s remarkable feats. The first eight overs bowled from New Zealand’s pacers, minus their main pace bowler Matt Henry who was injured, saw Rohit scoring 47 runs alongside the team who were sitting at 59 runs.

Mitchell Santner was left with no choice but to introduce himself as a bowler, and for the most part, the opening batters succeeded in scaling back their aggression while maintaining the required run rate. Santner was dealt with relatively easily, until he reached 106 after India’s 19th over. For a fleeting moment it seemed like India had things under control, but in no time New Zealand brought the game back into balance.

The first wicket to fall was that of Shubman Gill who, in typical fashion, attempted to flay the ball through the offside only to see Glenn Phillips take a superb catch at wide cover. He wasn’t the only player to grab the attention of the audience thanks to his gut-wrenching catches. Michael Bracewell decided to join the party by clean bowling Kohli, as the self-proclaimed king tried to flick the ball, only to find himself squared up and so the ever-reliable arm trapped him, bang in front of his stumps, with the score at one. Suddenly, losing two wickets in the ensuing four stringed balls forced India to put the brakes on things, which was exactly what spun bowlers of New Zealand had in mind. Even a set Rohit had no choice but to curb the level of risk while Shreyas Iyer carried out the usual Shenanigans.

This resulted in a sequence of 11 back to back dot balls, before Rohit, rather foolishly, attempted to charge at Ravindra and got himself stumped. At this point in the game, India still had three wickets in hand but were left being 122 at a dead even score. Out of the two teams, India also needed one more partnership to be formed in order to help them push ahead.

Attempting to balance caution with aggression, Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer stated their case. In Iyer's case, he was offered a let-off when Will Young tried too hard to claim an extreme catch at deep mid-wicket as he attempted to throw his body into the mid-wicket only to land onto the ropes.

Iyer and Patel's stand was listless in its progression, but they ticked 62 important runs off the board courtesy Jamieson who offered a long-on sitter while Iyer was at. This proved not too expensive as Iyer followed the surge of runs and attempted to launch a Mitchell Santner delivery over short fine leg where he fell victim to Rachin Ravindra. There was a notable increase in the required Run rate as full set batsman Patel was out after miscuing a breathtaking loft off Bracewell. However that was not quite the case with KL Rahul slamming a Santner ball for a six to calm him down.

With 48 runs required off the balls, the final score was still a toss up. However, boundaries from Rahul and Hardik Pandya, who scored India’s runs Pandyas’ 18-ball innings ended with a bouncer from Jamieson after he scored 18 runs. Classic Jadeja and Rahul's batting brought India home in the end after an impressive fight from New Zealand. India did end up winning, however, New Zealand made sure they did not lose by that much in the first half with India’s bowlers.

The side ended up putting a decent score thanks to consistent batting from India’s spinners. India was also in a decent position thanks to the Mitchell’s brilliant 63 runs from 101 balls that balanced out the pressure coming from the spinners. After the boundaries in the fourth overs, the spinners were able to bother India through the innings, which helped India take control over the game.

During the initial stages, it was New Zealand that outshone the rest of the competitiors because of a highly aggressive Rachin Ravindra at the top. New Zealand were at the forefrontof the tournament, and Ravindra showcased some delectable shots off the pacers that proved exactly that. Pandya got hit for 16 in an over and so did Shami fending him off in a way that made Sharma use his spin bowler far too early in the contest. Shocker, right?

India pursued Ravindra with the hope that somewhere down the line he would give them the opportunity to dispense with him. Chakaravarty let out a def Gogli followed by a miss and, in a way, gave Rio exactly the set piece India had neglected the entire 10 overs. The Ravindra bounds issue gave India another two catches both of which were nothing short of horrendous. Out of nowhere, Shami decided to launch the catch and Chakaravarthy was completely off the function of making a semi-attentive, capable 58. After 10 overs, Ravindra was still looking in great form while having hit 37 out of the 69 that New Zealand had raced to.

Kuldeep Yadav completely shifted the innings on its head with his first ball of the game where he bowled a wrong'un that went through Ravindra's dab. In his following over, he advanced the Indian score even further when he misled Kane Williamson with his bowling and took an easy return-catch.

New Zealand now had to ease up at 75/3 after having their foot in the gas pedal for the risk of crashing and burning. Even with the spinners drying the boundaries, both Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell opted to play it safe. While there was no excessive turn on offer, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel continued to bowl during the middle overs and ensured no freebies. India’s spinners had to bowl more than they did in any match during the tournament and they were able to their collectively make approach over 1/4th of the time which meant that New Zealand's risk taking had an unusually high level of threat.

Before Latham got misjudged while attempting a sweep and was LBW against Jadeja, their 33-run stand off 66 balls include merely a boundary. Mitchell, on the other hand, took an unconventional templated approach, pairing with Glenn Phillips to form yet another dull stand of 57 runs for the fifth wicket. Both batters received a single drop due to India’s fielders having an uncharacteristically underwhelming day. Unfortunately for Phillips, he didn’t capitalize on this opportunity and was bowled for 34 by Chakaravarthy’s googly.

Parallel, Mitchell beat an aggressive journey to grab his 50 alongside an equally adventurous Michael Bracewell. New Zeeland surpassed 200 thanks to their 45 run stand, but ended when Mitchell decided to spoon Shami to cover, while those watching expected a huge finish. During the final overs, Bracewell made sure, with some smart play against the pace bowlers, to keep the speed going. He clawed New Zealand past the 250 mark with a brilliant effort of 35 runs in the last three overs, scoring his fifty in the final.

Results of the matches: New Zeland 251/7 (Daryl Mitchell 63, Michael Bracewell 53*; Varun Chakaravarthy 2-45, Kuldeep Yadav 2-40) handed victory to India 254/6 (Rohit Sharma 76, Shreyas Iyer 48). The difference was 4 wickets.