The Indian cricket team won their first ICC ODI title in 12 years, defeating New Zealand by four wickets in the Champions Trophy 2025 final in Dubai on Sunday. Team India’s winning stars — Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy — reacted to the victory after the match.
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The Indian cricket team broke the ICC ODI jinx on Sunday (9 March) by winning the 2025 Champions Trophy as they
defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Incidentally, India’s last ODI title was also the Champions Trophy win in 2013, then under MS Dhoni’s captaincy.
The 2025 Champions Trophy win has come under Rohit Sharma’s leadership, who has now won two ICC titles as a captain after clinching the T20 World Cup last year in the West Indies.
Team India players react to winning Champions Trophy 2025
Here’s how the Indian players reacted
after India won the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Virat Kohli: “It’s been amazing, we wanted to bounce back after a tough Australia tour. Lovely playing with a bunch of amazing youngsters. They’re stepping up and taking India in the right direction. After playing for so long, you look forward to playing under pressure. To win titles, the whole team has to step up in different games. People have played such impactful knocks and had spells, that collective effort is what has done it for us. I try to speak to these guys, try to share my experience, tell them how I’ve played for so long. When you leave, you want to leave in a better position. So many impactful knocks Gill, Shreyas, Rahul, et al have played. The team is in good hands.”
KL Rahul: “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 challenging ourselves to get better.”
Shubman Gill: “Felt amazing. For the most time, I sat back and enjoyed Rohit’s batting. He told me doesn’t matter how the scoreboard gap is, the aim was to bat till the end. We missed out in 2023, happy to win eight ODIs back to back. Seeing the intensity with which he plays with is amazing. He (Kohli) keeps telling us to give it everything and backs it up. NZ are very consistent and execute plans accurately. We know they give it their all. They showed it tonight with the consistency.”
Hardik Pandya: “Always amazing to win an ICC event. I remember 2017 very closely, couldn’t finish that time. Very pleased to have done it here. KL was calm, he took his chances at the right time. He has immense talent, no one can time it as well as him.”
Ravindra Jadeja: “That is how it is with me; sometimes a hero, sometimes a zero. The wicket was not easy for a new batter. Hardik and KL were great. Winning the CT is a huge thing. If you don’t win a big tournament after playing so long, it hurts.”
Kuldeep Yadav: “Luckily my batting wasn’t needed. KL and Hardik did brilliantly. I don’t believe in favorites tags but we have been doing brilliantly. This win is dedicated to our fans. It is easy to say that four spinners in the team, but it is very tough to manage four spinners. There was a lot of planning and all credit to Rohit bhai. Big party tonight.”
Varun: “It was a sudden inclusion and I didn’t expect it to turn out like this. It’s a dream come true. We had to stick to our lengths.”