Indian team celebrates the Champions Trophy 2025 win.© AFP
India overcame a stiff challenge from New Zealand in the final of the 2025 Champions Trophy and defeated their ICC-tournament nemesis by four wickets in a thriller at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday night. The spin quartet were the heroes for India in the evening with the wrist spinners – Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy – causing severe damage to the top order while Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel choked the flow of runs in the middle overs. Skipper Rohit Sharma led the way with his aggressive template in the powerplay while Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul maintained a cool and calm head in tense moments in the run-chase.
We look at a few numbers which defined India’s victorious campaign at the 2025 Champions Trophy.
India – the best batting and bowling unit
India had a combined batting average of 41.72 in the tournament. Although, Australia and South Africa were marginally higher, India played all their encounters on the bowler-friendly Dubai wicket. Australia played only one match in Dubai whereas South Africa benefitted from playing all their encounters on placid tracks in Pakistan. Just for perspective, New Zealand, who played two matches in Dubai, had a batting average of 25.23 at the venue and a corresponding strike rate of 74.73. Lahore had the highest batting average in the competition of 40.69 while Dubai was at the bottom with a corresponding average of 30.77.
India also had the most potent bowling unit in the tournament despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. They had the best bowling average (27.32) and economy rate (4.8) in the competition. While the Indian spin quartet stood out and had a combined average of 28.38 – the best in the tournament, the pacers did not do badly either and remarkably also topped the charts in terms of bowling average (25.7).
India – the most lethal spin bowling unit
India’s new spin quartet exploited the favourable conditions in Dubai brilliantly and combined to take 26 wickets – the most for any spin unit in the tournament.
They had the best average (28.38), strike rate (37.7) and economy (4.51) in the tournament. Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the Indian spinners with nine wickets at 15.1 apiece at an economy of 4.5. Six of his nine dismissals were of the top 6 opposition batters. He picked up a couple of crucial wickets in the powerplay where he conceded just 33 runs off 30 deliveries in the tournament.
Kuldeep Yadav was the highest impact bowler in the final changing the match on its head with his twin blows of Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson in successive overs. He returned with seven wickets in the tournament while Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel were phenomenally restrictive bowling a tight line and length and had a combined economy of 4.35 in the tournament.
Interestingly, it was New Zealand who were the second-best spin bowling unit of the tournament with the second-best bowling average (30.45) and strike rate (37.9). Mitchell Santner was exceptional in the middle overs and returned with nine wickets at an average of 26.7 and economy of 4.8! Off-spinner, Michael Bracewell was the real surprise package though with eight wickets at 25.12 apiece at an economy of 4.1. He bowled a sensational 174 dot balls – the most for any bowler in the tournament!
Rohit’s aggressive template
Rohit Sharma led by example and continued with his aggressive powerplay template which has brought rich dividends to India post their early ouster in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. The Indian skipper has since emphasized on maximizing the scoring opportunities in the first 10 overs focusing on getting runs instead of conserving wickets.
It was Rohit’s 76 off 83 deliveries which gave India the impetus at the start in the run-chase in the final before the New Zealand spinners tightened the screws in the middle overs. Rohit hammered 153 runs off just 137 deliveries at a rate of 111.7 in the powerplay in the tournament which eased the pressure considerably on the middle-order. He has a scoring rate of 122.56 in the powerplay since 2023 which is the second-highest in this phase of play (min. 200 runs) only after Travis Head.
Shreyas’ magical consistency
Shreyas Iyer was India’s batter of the tournament. He did not score big runs but made invaluable contributions in almost every encounter scoring tough runs under pressure. Iyer was the second-highest run-getter of the tournament with 243 runs in five innings which included two half-centuries.
A match-defining 114-run stand with Virat Kohli against Pakistan, weathered the storm from 22/2 (which worsened to 30/3) and top-scored against New Zealand, an under-pressure 45 against Australia in the semi-final and finally a crucial 48 at a critical juncture against New Zealand in the final – Iyer was phenomenally consistent, delivering the goods in almost every encounter when his team needed him the most. Iyer has been in top-notch form since his return to the Indian unit for the ODI series against England.
He has an aggregate of 424 runs in eight matches and a strike rate of 93.6 which includes four fifties and two other high-impact forties.
KL Rahul – Mr Cool
KL Rahul produced three high-impact performances with the bat under high-pressure in the tournament, showcasing a calm head and excellent temperament. He came out to bat at a tricky 144/4 against Bangladesh and put together a match-winning unbeaten stand of 87 with Shubman Gill.
Rahul then eased tensions with a classy undefeated 42 off just 34 deliveries in the semi-final against Australia. In a tense final, Rahul walked out to bat at 183 for 4 and held his nerve scoring an unbeaten 34 off 33 deliveries taking India through to a memorable four-wicket win with an over to spare.
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