India secured their third Champions Trophy title with a tense four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the final of the 2025 edition at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Chasing a target of 252, India started strong with Rohit Sharma’s composed 76-run knock, but a few stumbles in the middle made the chase more challenging, pushing the game to the 49th over. KL Rahul, who remained unbeaten on 34, played a crucial role in steering India to victory.
Speaking after the nail-biting finish, Rahul expressed his emotions candidly:
“Not sure I can say this on air but I was s***** myself. As confident as I could be that I could get over the line. Keeping composure is all that matters, happy to have done it this time. I’ve batted in times like this in three out of the five games. Hard to put in words, but the team has pure skill. The way we’ve all had to play cricket growing up, we faced pressure from the time we became professional cricketers. The BCCI have groomed all of them and we’ve challenged ourselves to get better.”
India’s triumph was built on a solid bowling performance after being put in the field following Rohit’s 12th consecutive toss loss. The spinners kept the Blackcaps in check, restricting them to 251/7 in 50 overs. Kuldeep Yadav (2/40) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2/45) delivered impactful spells, while Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami also chipped in with a wicket each.
For New Zealand, Daryl Mitchell (63 off 101 balls), Michael Bracewell (53 not out off 40 balls), and Rachin Ravindra (37 off 29 balls) were the key contributors with the bat.
India’s chase saw moments of concern when they lost wickets despite being well-placed at 183/3 in the 38th over. However, KL Rahul’s composed 34 off 33 balls and a quickfire 18-run cameo by Hardik Pandya ensured India got over the line with six balls to spare.
With this victory, India maintained an unbeaten run throughout the tournament, asserting their dominance. This marks India’s third Champions Trophy triumph, following their previous victories in 2002 and 2013, making them the only team to win the title three times.