5 amazing coincidences between Virat Kohli's knock in 2024 T20 World Cup final and Rohit Sharma's knock in 2025 CT final

India lifted their third Champions Trophy title by defeating New Zealand in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 9 (Sunday). Yet again, they won an ICC tournament without dropping a match after going unbeaten in the 2024 T20 World Cup as well.

The Men in Blue were by far the most consistent team of the tournament, winning all their five games. Every player stepped up at different times and contributed to the title triumph. Their consistency was impeccable right from the first game against Bangladesh and it just kept getting better and better as the tournament progressed.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma scored a match-winning 76 in the final after a pretty ordinary outing in the first four games. His knock at the top blew away the New Zealand bowling attack and paved the way for the tricky run chase. He toyed with the fast bowlers and took a liking to Nathan Smith, smashing seven fours and three sixes during his match-winning knock.

India lost three quick wickets but the start provided by Rohit Sharma allowed the middle-order and the lower-middle-order batters to take their time and build their innings. Every middle-order batter chipped in with valuable knocks which eventually helped India chase the target down with an over to spare.

Rohit Sharma's knock was eerily similar to Virat Kohli’s knock in the 2024 T20 World Cup final. Here is a look at five coincidences between Virat and Rohit’s knock in the two ICC finals:

# 5. Both knocks came in a winning cause

The Indian captain poses with the Champions Trophy. Source: Getty

What's most important for India is that both knocks came in a winning cause and that too in an ICC final. The Men in Blue have played some exceptional brand of cricket in the last decade, but the elusive ICC trophy was eluding them.

On both occasions, two of the biggest stalwarts of the game, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ensured that their knocks helped India win the Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup respectively in less than eight months.

# 4. Both scored 76

Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma scored 76 in the T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy final respectively. Rarely you will see individuals scoring identical amounts of runs in ICC finals, but this is what the RO-KO duo managed to pull off.

Virat helped India recover from an early slump against South Africa in the T20 World Cup final last year while Rohit provided a blistering start to put India in the driver's seat in the CT final. Both knocks came in different junctures of the game but both were equally important.

# 3. While one failed, the other stepped up

It must be noted that while Rohit failed in the T20 World Cup final, Virat Kohli stepped up and when Kohli couldn't make an impact in the CT final, Rohit made it up with a brilliant knock which eventually came in a winning cause.

Rohit scored just 9 runs in the T20 World final while Virat was trapped in front of the stumps by Michael Bracewell in the Champions Trophy final for just a solitary run. When he was dismissed, the Men in Blue looked in a bit of a bother but the rest of the middle order ensured they chased down the target with an over to spare.

# 2. Both batters didn't score a single half-century in the earlier matches of the tournament

As they say, cometh the hour, cometh the man, both the champion batters delivered for the nation when it mattered the most. Virat Kohli looked totally out of sorts in the T20 World Cup last year and scored just 75 runs in the first seven matches of the tournament.

He couldn't score a single fifty, with his highest score of 37 coming against Bangladesh. However, he stepped up in the final when his team needed him the most. With India reduced to 34/3, Kohli put his head down and did the hard grind before cutting loose in the death overs.

Coming to Rohit Sharma, his highest score coming into the CT final was 41 against Bangladesh in the opening game. He couldn't make a significant impact but come the final, he went on a rampage and put the New Zealand bowlers on the backfoot. His knock put India well ahead in the game from where New Zealand always had to play catch-up cricket.

# 1. Both won the POTM awards

Virat Kohli’s stupendous knock of 76 in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa earned him the Player of the Match Award. The middle and the lower middle order batted around him as he tried to take the game deep and help India post a competitive score.

While some quarters criticized him for completing his fifty off 48 deliveries, it was what the situation demanded. He broke free in the death overs, and with India eventually winning by 7 runs, he was awarded the POTM.

Rohit Sharma on the other hand broke the backbone of the run chase with his early blitz and despite New Zealand getting three wickets in quick succession, it was always going to be difficult to defend the score of 251 given the batting line-up India had. Rohit slowed down a bit towards the end of his knock but the damage was already done.