2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in the 2025 Champions Trophy Final vs New Zealand ft. Mohammed Shami at the death

India added another piece of ICC silverware to their cabinet as they clinched the 2025 Champions Trophy on Sunday, March 9. The Men in Blue overcame New Zealand by four wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to cap off a red-hot run of ODI form with the ultimate prize.

It was a near-perfect display from India, who had to contend with losing yet another toss. Stellar performances from Rohit Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav fired the team to the title. However, from a tactical perspective, Rohit and Co. weren't at the top of their game.

On that note, here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by India in their Champions Trophy final clash against New Zealand.

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#3 Mistake - Rohit Sharma didn't bowl out Axar Patel

India v New Zealand: Final - ICC Champions Trophy 2025 - Source: Getty

Around the seventh over of his spell, Axar Patel picked up a finger injury that threatened to curtail his bowling involvement in the Champions Trophy. However, the left-arm spinner delivered another over after the incident and was seen on the field until the end of the innings.

Strangely, though, Rohit Sharma didn't bowl Axar out. The spinner finished with eight overs for 29 runs, which made him India's second-most economical bowler on the night. Although only marginal turn was on offer in the first innings, there was enough slowness in the track for Axar to be more effective than Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya, who were picked apart at the death.

India had 40 overs of spin, and they should've ensured that they used all of them.

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#2 Masterstroke - India's middle-order batters kept relieving the pressure with big hits

India v New Zealand: Final - ICC Champions Trophy 2025 - Source: Getty

It wasn't an entirely smooth chase from India. Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli fell in quick succession, while none of the middle-order batters crossed the 50-run mark. Even Shreyas Iyer, who got close with a plucky 48, survived a couple of close shaves in the deep.

Given the tense situation they were in, India did well not to panic. The New Zealand spinners started to find turn in the second half of the chase, and Mitchell Santner tried to rotate his spinners and choke the opposition.

However, Axar, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Shreyas himself struck timely blows to relieve the pressure. Between them, they struck five maximums, including a couple off the dangerous Santner, to bring the required run rate under a run a ball.

That courage and intelligent pacing of the chase meant that India were never in a compromised position. They got over the line with an over to spare and were ahead of the chase for pretty much all of it.

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#1 Mistake - India didn't have enough spin overs for the death

New Zealand v India - ICC Champions Trophy 2025 - Source: Getty

As mentioned earlier, Shami and Hardik weren't effective at all in the final of the 2025 Champions Trophy. While the former was carted for 74 runs in the nine overs he bowled, including nine fours and a six, the latter leaked runs at 10 an over.

The easiest way for India to offset that would've been to use a couple of overs from the pace duo in the middle overs, saving the spinners for the death. Michael Bracewell is clearly more comfortable against pace, but Rohit didn't keep enough spin overs in the bank for the final phase of the innings.

The Black Caps went from 165/5 in the 38th over to 251/7 at the end of their innings, with Shami and Hardik being the brunt of that. Had that recovery not been allowed, the Men in Blue would've had a completely straightforward chase.