India’s veteran Virat Kohli said that the team wanted to bounce back strongly after a tough Australia tour. India suffered a 1-3 loss against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar trophy but lifted their third Champions Trophy title after beating New Zealand by four wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday.
India restricted New Zealand to 251 after Mitchell Santner decided to bat first in the big final. The Kiwis got off to a flying start, racing to 69-1 in the Powerplay overs but the Indian spinners were able to get their team back in the contest with regular strikes.
In the run-chase, India got off to an ideal start with Indian captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill adding 105 runs for the opening alliance. But India lost three wickets for the next 17 runs to find themselves under the pump.
However, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel were able to steady the ship as they rotated the strike at regular intervals to stitch 61 runs together. Iyer scored 48 whereas KL Rahul once again added the finishing touches with 34 runs off 33 balls.
Virat Kohli said after the memorable win, “We wanted to bounce back after a tough Australia tour, wanted to win a big tournament and we ended up doing that. So, it’s an amazing feeling, lovely playing with a bunch of such amazing youngsters, so much talent in the change room and they’re taking Indian cricket forward in the right direction. And we’re really happy to help, share our experience and try to make an impact whenever we get a chance. But yeah, these guys are stepping up in a massive way and that’s why we are such a strong team.”
Kohli added that winning a big title like the Champions Trophy keeps them motivated and that’s what they play for. This is Kohli’s fourth ICC title and he played a key role in taking India to glory.
He concluded, “These are the things after playing for so long, such a long career, you look forward to situations where you’re put under pressure and you walk in and you put your hand up. And I think to win titles, which has kind of been missing in the past, the whole team has to step up in different games. And if you see this tournament over the course of five matches, everyone has put their hand up somewhere or the other. And that’s why we ended up winning this tournament. And people have made such impactful knocks, such impactful spells and it’s only a collective effort that can win you a title. And I’m just so happy that we were able to play as a unit, just really enjoy ourselves. We’ve had such an amazing time as a team here in practice sessions, off the field, on the field.”
Kohli will now be seen in action for RCB in IPL 2025.
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