He scored 180 runs in five matches at an average of 36.
Former spinner Ravichandran Ashwin heaped praise on skipper Rohit Sharma after his Champions Trophy 2025 triumph on Sunday in Dubai. He said the captain led from the front and changed the batting landscape of India’s white-ball cricket with his fierce intent.
In the final against New Zealand, Rohit provided a brilliant start with his 83-ball-76 while bringing up a 105-run partnership with Shubman Gill. Though the chase of 252 became a bit tricky towards the end, small contributions from the entire batting line-up helped India to get over the line with an over remaining.
On his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat, Ashwin emphasised how the captain changed his batting tactics after the 2023 ODI World Cup. The situation was different in Dubai and he adjudged the game well throughout the tournament.
“He has led by example since that 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal loss against England. Against New Zealand, Rohit Sharma has played a measured knock. It was not like Ahmedabad. The way he attacked Nathan Smith. He never let him came back into the game. His intent was so good”, stated Ashwin.
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The 38-year-old also applauded Rohit for his captaincy in white-ball cricket. Naming him as a ‘stalwart’ of ODI cricket, Ashwin credited Rohit for the change of mindset in the dressing room.
“Rohit’s biggest legacy is not about winning the tournaments. He has won five IPL titles with Mumbai Indians. He has now led India to back-to-back ICC titles. That’s not his legacy. Rohit Sharma has changed the batting frontier of Indian white-ball cricket. That is his biggest legacy. He is a stalwart in ODI cricket. Actually he changed out cricketing thought process in the white-ball when it comes to the batting. Earlier it was to score big runs, remain not out. Please note this. In India the batting landscape was like this only, the top three batters will score big runs, they will improve their average”, he added.
India secured their second ICC white-ball title in just nine months, having previously won the T20 World Cup last year. The Men in Blue remained unbeaten throughout the tournament to claim their third Champions Trophy title.
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