IND vs NZ: Rohit Sharma repays Gautam Gambhir's faith with fiery knock in final
India captain Rohit Sharma lit up the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 as he repaid the faith of head coach Gautam Gambhir with a quick-fire fifty against New Zealand on Sunday, March 9 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. Chasing a target of 252 in the summit clash, Rohit wasted no time and got off the mark in style smashing a six on the very second ball with his trademark pull shot.
The India skipper further flicked William O’Rourke for a boundary in the second over and creamed him through covers on the last ball to collect another four. Rohit looked determined to notch up a big score in the final after failing to score a single fifty in the last four matches.
The India captain had the backing of his head coach Gautam Gambhir who defended him in the post-match press conference after the semi final vs Australia mentioning his overall impact on the game.
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Rohit whacked a massive 93-metre six by dancing down the track against Nathan Smith, which even left his wife Ritika Sajdeh awestruck, who was also in attendance to watch the big final. He further took on the Kiwi seamer in the eighth over, smashing him for a six and two boundaries. Rohit brought up his fifty in the 11th over as he guided Mitchell Santner through the off side for a single.
The opening batter brought up his fifty off 41 balls, which was also his maiden half century in an ICC event final. He also put on a century stand with Shubman Gill in the summit clash in 17 overs, as they became the first pair to score 100 runs together for the first wicket in a Champions Trophy final while chasing. Earlier in the day, half-centuries from Daryl Mitchell (63 off 101) and Michael Bracewell (53* off 40) guided New Zealand to 251/7 in their allotted 50 overs.
