Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated the Men in Blue for their Champions Trophy 2025 triumph. During the grand finale against New Zealand on Sunday (Mar 9) in Dubai, India beat the Kiwis by four wickets to clinch the title for the record third time, becoming the most successful team in the competition's history. India won its second ICC title in two years.

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Taking to his social media handle X, PM Modi posted,

"An exceptional game and an exceptional result! 

Proud of our cricket team for bringing home the ICC Champions Trophy. They’ve played wonderfully through the tournament. Congratulations to our team for the splendid all round display.”

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Unlucky toss, lucky result

Indian captain Rohit Sharma lost his 12th consecutive toss in international cricket on Sunday, equaling former Windies great Brian Lara’s tally, with India losing its 15th coin toss on the trot. 

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However, like how it had favoured India in all previous games in this edition (as they remained unbeaten throughout), losing the toss yielded the same result in the summit clash as India won the title match.

Also read | IND vs NZ Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma completes first-ever fifty in ICC finals

New Zealand batted first on a dicey Dubai pitch, scoring a fighting 251 for seven in 50 overs. For them, two players scored fifties – Daryl Mitchell (63) and Michael Bracewell (53), while for the Indian team, the spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav picked two wickets each.

Chasing a close-to-the-par-total at this venue, India began aggressively, with openers – captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill adding 107 for the first wicket. 

Kiwi skipper Santner broke the stand courtesy of a brilliant catch at the cover by Glenn Phillips. Two more quick wickets did hamper India’s scoring rate, but the middle order bailed the team out. Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel obeyed the orders and executed their plans perfectly to help India inch closer to a title win.

Though both departed as the fag end of the game approached, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja ensured India cross the winning line without many hiccups. 

India completed the chase inside the 49th over with four wickets remaining. 

(With inputs from agencies)