“They should win convincingly” - Former coach’s massive claim on 2025 Champions Trophy potential winner

Former India coach Lalchand Rajput has lauded the Men in Blue for their ruthless brand of cricket in the Champions Trophy 2025. He credited the side for dominating the opponents and not allowing them to bounce back. The 63-year-old further predicted the Rohit Sharma company to win their second consecutive ICC tournament quite convincingly.

The remarks came after India beat Bangladesh and Pakistan to begin their Champions Trophy campaign. With the wins, India have already qualified for the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finals with one group tie still left. They will play their final Group A fixture against New Zealand on Sunday, March 2. The BlackCaps have also qualified for the semi-finals following their back-to-back victories over Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Lalchand Rajput told PTI (via India Today):

"This Indian team looks ruthless. They try to dominate and win every game. They don't want to give the opponents a chance to come back into the game. That is the attitude. And the way they are playing, I think they should win the Champions Trophy convincingly."

Ahead of the ICC event, India had also defeated England by a 3-0 margin in the three-match ODI series at home.

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"Big match temperament" - Lalchand Rajput lauds Virat Kohli's heroics against Pakistan in Champions Trophy 2025

Lalchand Rajput further lauded Virat Kohli for his heroics against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy. The remarks came after Kohli smashed an unbeaten 100 off 111 balls to help the Men in Blue chase 242 runs convincingly. This was his 82nd international century.

Rajput said in the same interaction:

"I think Virat played a fantastic innings, you know, and he showed his class. We always think of King Kohli, I think he proved again. Big match, big match temperament. Big match player."

During his 51st ODI ton, Virat Kohli eclipsed legendary Sachin Tendulkar for the fastest 14,000 runs in the 50-over format. The 36-year-old also eclipsed former Australian captain Ricky Ponting for the third most runs in international cricket across formats. He is now only behind Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara to become the leading run-getter in international cricket across formats.