Team India stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli shared a passionate high five in celebration after a 44-run win against New Zealand in the final group match of the 2025 Champions Trophy on Sunday (March 2) in Dubai.
It was not a great day for the duo with the bat as they endured failures in the first innings. Despite losing Shubman Gill (2) early without much on the scoreboard, Rohit Sharma (15) and Virat Kohli (11) started positively but perished without converting them. Shreyas Iyer (79) anchored the innings with a brilliant half-century and helped India reach a respectable total of 249 with some assistance from Axar Patel (42) and Hardik Pandya (45).
Then, Varun Chakravarthy bamboozled New Zealand with his mystery spin and ended up with a five-wicket haul on his Champions Trophy debut. Courtesy of his efforts, India bundled out the Kiwis for 205 in 45.3 overs to emerge victorious in the encounter.
After the conclusion of the match, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were spotted celebrating the triumph joyously with an emotional double high five. You can watch the moment in the video below:
"It was important to finish on a high"- India captain Rohit Sharma after victory vs New Zealand in 2025 Champions Trophy clash
At the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma stressed the importance of the win against New Zealand leading into the knockout games. Notably, India will face Australia in the first semi-final of the 2025 Champions Trophy on Tuesday (March 4) in Dubai.
The 37-year-old said:
"It was important for us to finish the game on a high. New Zealand were playing really well and it was important to get the result. The Shreyas-Axar partnership was crucial. The total which we got was enough to work it out. We had the confidence, the bowlers stepped up and did the job. Look Varun has got something different so we wanted to try and see what he can offer. We have to think what we want to do in the next game. If he gets it right it's very difficult to read him."
About plans for the Australia match, Sharma continued:
"You want to win possibly every games. You have to correct the mistakes quickly. Australia is gonna be a good game. They have a rich history of playing ICC tournaments well. It will start from ball one. We need to think what we need to do on that particular day."
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