"Not Sure I Can Say This On Air...": KL Rahul's Honest Statement After Nervy Win In Champions Trophy Final

India on Sunday registered a nervy four-wicket win over New Zealand in the final of Champions Trophy 2025 to clinch a record third title. Chasing 252, India got off to a flying start, thanks to Rohit Sharma's 76, but stuggled in the middle and that saw the game going down to the wire. It was so close that India clinched the victory at the end of the 49th over. KL Rahul, who held his nerves till the end by scoring unbeaten 34, spoke his heart out after the win.

"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," said Rahul.

Skipper Rohit led from the front with an excellent half-century as a resolute India held their nerve to win an unprecedented third Champions Trophy title.

Bowling first after Rohit lost his 12th straight toss, India's spinners restricted New Zealand to 251 for seven in the allotted 50 overs, with Kuldeep Yadav (2/40) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2/45) making significant contributions with the ball.

India completed the chase of 252 with six balls to spare after Rohit (76 off 83 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (48 off 62 balls) shone with the bat.

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 main contributors with the willow.

While chasing, India faced some anxious moments when they lost two wickets after being well paced at 183 for three after 38 years, but KL Rahul (34 not out off 33 balls) showed great composure to see his team through after Hardik Pandya's breezy 18-run knock.

India won the trophy without losing a match, reflecting their dominance.

India's previous title triumphs in the tournament came in 2002 and 2013. No other team has won the event thrice.

(With PTI Inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket India Cricket Team New Zealand Cricket Team ICC Champions Trophy 2025 India vs New Zealand, Final KL Rahul Ravindra Jadeja