Sachin roars for ‘champion’ India, Ganguly can’t stop raving over ‘captain marvellous’ Rohit after Champions Trophy win

Former cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were elated with India’s Champions Trophy victory on Sunday with the win over New Zealand in the final. Rohit Sharma and Co. remained unbeaten in the tournament after wins against Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand in the group phase, then Australia in the semifinal and eventually hit the final knockout punch to the Kiwis again to win another ICC title. With the win, India became the first team to win three Champions Trophy titles in history, while it was their first 50-over ICC title since the 2013 event.

Ganguly, who was the first Indian captain to win the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004, hailed Rohit’s captaincy for leading the team to back-to-back ICC titles in the last two years.

“Superb effort by india .. What a performance in world tournaments last 2 yrs . so much depth in the squad .. congratulations to all .. Rohit sharma captain marvellous .. @bcci,” Ganguly wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Rohit led the chase with 76 runs off 83 balls and KL Rahul’s unbeaten 34 helped India cross the finish line on 254-6 in 49 overs to win the Champions Trophy for the third time.

Batting great Sachin Tendulkar also roared in elation after India’s incredible win as they held their nerves in the crunch situation to get over the line.

“Champions Trophy CHAMPION…. Yeeeeehhhhh….” he wrote on X.

“It’s bittersweet at the end”: Santner

New Zealand also played quality cricket throughout the tournament and beat the likes of Pakistan, Bangladesh and South Africa to reach final but they suffered two defeats in the tournament and both of them came up against India.

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner expressed his thoughts on the defeat and termed the result “bittersweet”.

“It’s bittersweet at the end. We came up against a good side in the final. We challenged India at times throughout this game, which was pleasing. There were a couple of small moments where we let it get away from us,” Santner told media as quoted by ICC.

Santner also hailed Rohit’s knock in the all-important clash which put them on the backfoot.

“It has been a good tournament – we had challenges along the way, but we have grown as a group and played some good cricket,” Santner said. “We were beaten by a good side who turned up today. Rohit’s innings was outstanding and it put us on the back foot,” he added.