"Only love between us" - Virat Kohli reflects on his friendship with Kane Williamson after 2025 Champions Trophy triumph

Senior Team India batter Virat Kohli admitted that he felt sad for his friend Kane Williamson after New Zealand went down to India in the 2025 Champions Trophy final. Recalling that he has been on the wrong side of the result against New Zealand in the past, the Indian star added that there is only love between him and former Kiwi skipper Williamson.

India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the 2025 Champions Trophy final in Dubai on Sunday, March 9. Batting first after winning the toss, the Kiwis put up 251-7 on the board, a total India chased down in 49 overs. Skipper Rohit Sharma (76 off 83) led from the front in a tense chase for India.

Both Kohli and Williamson were dismissed cheaply in the final. However, they had impressive campaigns overall, scoring 218 and 200 runs respectively. Speaking to the host broadcaster after the Men in Blue lifted the 2025 Champions Trophy, Kohli empathized with Williamson and commented (as quoted by Cricbuzz):

"Sad to see a very good friend of mine (Kane Williamson) on the losing side, but I've been on the losing side a couple of times when he's been on the winning side. So only love between us."

Williamson was the captain of the New Zealand side that beat India in the 2019 World Cup semifinal in Manchester and also in the 2021 World Test Championship (WTC) final in Southampton.

Kohli went on to praise the New Zealand team for always coming up with terrific performances despite their limited number of resources. Hailing the Kiwis, he said:

"We've always been in awe of what they can do with the limited number of players they've had over the years and just maximize their talent to the absolute maximum... They've been probably the most consistent team in the last few years in big tournaments. And the reason for that is their immense belief in their skills and the amount of talent they have. So yeah, huge shout out to them."

New Zealand were the second-best team in the 2025 Champions Trophy after India. They only lost two matches in the tournament and both of their defeats came against the Men in Blue.

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"We wanted to bounce back after a tough Australia tour" - Virat Kohli

The year 2024 was a tough one for Kohli. Barring the half-century in the T20 World Cup final and the century in the Perth Test, he struggled. India lost the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy 4-1 to Australia, with Kohli enduring a tough tour. India did hammer England in white-ball matches at home. Kohli, though, stated that India wanted to do something big after the poor series Down Under.

"We wanted to bounce back after a tough Australia tour, wanted to win a big tournament and we ended up doing that. So, it's an amazing feeling, lovely playing with a bunch of such amazing youngsters, so much talent in the change room and they're taking Indian cricket forward in the right direction," the 36-year-old said.

"These are the things after playing for so long, such a long career, you look forward to situations where you're put under pressure and you walk in and you put your hand up... And if you see this tournament over the course of five matches, everyone has put their hand up somewhere or the other. And that's why we ended up winning this tournament," he added.

Kohli made key contributions with the willow in India's 2025 Champions Trophy triumph. He scored an unbeaten 100 in the group match against Pakistan and hit 84 in the semifinal against Australia.