Virat Kohli after Champions Trophy 2025 triumph: ’We wanted to bounce back after a tough Australia tour’

India needed the Champions Trophy 2025 title to bounce back after their Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), felt Virat Kohli after the Men in Blue defeated New Zealand by four wickets on Sunday in Dubai. With this, a dominant India clinched the third Champions Trophy title after 2000 and 2013. This is also the second back-to-back ICC title for the Indian team after their T20 World Cup triumph in 2024.

“It's been amazing, we wanted to bounce back after a tough Australia tour,” Virat Kohli said after the win. Skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front with an excellent half-century as a resolute India held their nerve to win an unprecedented third Champions Trophy title.

“Lovely playing with a bunch of amazing youngsters. They're stepping up and taking India in the right direction. After playing for so long, you look forward to playing under pressure,” he added.

India endured a tough Test series against Australia, losing 1-4. Earlier, India had lost 0-3 to New Zealand at home. The loss against Australia also meant India were eliminated from a place in the World Test Champions final.

Bowling first after Rohit lost his 12th straight toss, India's spinners restricted New Zealand to 251/7 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. While chasing, India faced some anxious moments when they lost two wickets after being well paced at 183/3 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.

“To win titles, the whole team has to step up in different games. People have played such impactful knocks and had spells, that collective effort is what has done it for us,” Virat Kohli said.

Virat Kohli's message for Kane Williamson 

Virat Kohli's journey at the top level started with Kane Williamson in 2008 in the U-19 World Cup. Over the years, both placed themselves as the greats of modern-day cricket. “Sad to see a very good friend (Kane Williamson) on the losing side, only love between us,” Virat Kohli said.