India have won the Champions Trophy title to confirm their status as the world’s premier white-ball side even though their latest achievement could well be branded with an asterisk.
Skipper Rohit Sharma led by example as reigning Twenty20 World Champions India prevailed in a nerve-wracking final against New Zealand to claim their second successive global title.
Their four-wicket victory was a perfect culmination of their unbeaten run in the 50-overs tournament featuring the world’s top eight teams.
India now have an incredible record of winning 22 of their last 23 completed matches in International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments.
Their lone defeat in the last three ICC events came in the final of the 50-overs World Cup against Australia in 2023.
Sunday’s triumph will alleviate some of that pain but questions abounded about the “unfair advantage” Rohit Sharma and his men got by playing all their matches in Dubai.
India stuck to their stand of not touring host nation Pakistan because of the political bickering between the neighbours, who play each other only in global events.
While other teams shuttled between three venues in Pakistan and flew to United Arab Emirates for any match against India, the eventual winners stayed put in Dubai where conditions also favoured their traditional strength of spin bowling.
India persisted with a four-pronged spin attack in the knockout matches and their spin quartet bowled 38 of the 50 overs against New Zealand.
Rohit paid tribute to his spinners and also thanked the legions of Indian fans at the heaving Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
“The crowd has been magnificent. It’s not our home ground but they’ve made it our home ground,” Rohit, who was player-of-the-match for his rapid 76, said.
New Zealand have been India’s bugbear in ICC events and beating them twice in the tournament will be particularly pleasing for the eventual winners.
The Black Caps produced a lion-hearted bowling effort defending a modest 7-251 and skipper Mitchell Santner will take heart from their gallant display in their first ICC event under the spinner’s leadership.
They won a Tri-Nations series in Pakistan in their build-up and lost only to India in their spirited Champions Trophy campaign.
A shoulder injury to Matt Henry robbed them of the service of their pace spearhead but New Zealand fought tooth and nail against India.
KL Rahul finished 34 not out as India, chasing New Zealand’s 7-251, laboured to get to their target after a blistering 76 by captain Rohit Sharma, in an opening partnership of 105 with Shubman Gill, had initially made it look as if it should be a cakewalk.
But another unbelievable diving catch from the Superman-in-black Glenn Phillips sent Gill packing and New Zealand just wouldn’t go away, inspired by Michael Bracewell’s terrific allround performance, nabbing wickets every time it seemed India must be in control.
Yet after Shreyas Iyer fell for 48, it ended up coming down to old heads Pandya (18 off 18) and Jadeja (9no off 6) to help Rahul win the day.
“I don’t think I can say this on camera but I was s***ting myself at the end,” smiled Rahul in a pitchside interview.
“In moments like this in big games, it’s all about holding your composure. It’s not easy but, yeah, happy to get across the line this time.”
Allrounder Rachin Ravindra, 25, was adjudged player of the tournament for being the tournament’s leading scorer while also sharing the spin workload and claiming three wickets.
“We’ve seen how he steps up in these major events and that’s all you can ask for,” Santner said of the curly-haired allrounder who struck two hundreds that followed three centuries in the 2023 ODI World Cup..
“He understands his game at such a young age already.
“He’s got such a massive future ahead. He even took the ball in hand and put the pressure back on them today.”
© AAP
