Ranking India's 5 best performers in 2025 Champions Trophy ft. Virat Kohli

Team India completed a dominant 2025 Champions Trophy campaign with a thrilling win over New Zealand in the final in Dubai on March 9. The Men in Blue shut down narratives about their inability to complete the mission in an ICC ODI event, having not won one since 2013.

India won all five games to make it back-to-back ICC titles (2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy) without losing a single outing. As convincing and utterly dominant as the final scoreboard may suggest, India were not without their share of troubling moments in most of the matches.

Yet, a sign of a champion side is having each player in the eleven step up at different times, and India enjoyed all that and some in the tournament. While the bowlers hunted in unison as a pack, even on the rare occasions where the opposition held the upper hand, the batters maneuvered the fields on the often-sluggish Dubai surfaces with precision.

However, as is the case in all title-winning teams, a select few rose over and beyond the others and here, we look at India's top five performers in the Champions Trophy and rank them accordingly.

# 5 KL Rahul

KL Rahul brought incredible calm to India's batting lineup under pressure [Credit: Getty]

Much has been said about KL Rahul's role in the Indian ODI side and his inability to step up to the plate on the biggest of occasions. Yet, the 32-year-old shredded all those narratives into pieces with one clutch performance after the other in the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Team India were in some trouble in their tournament opener against Bangladesh in a run-chase of 229. However, coming in to bat with India at 144 for 4, Rahul willed his side to victory with a classy 47-ball 41*. India's No. 6 made another crucial 23 in their final Group A clash against New Zealand, helping them set the Kiwis a target of 250 on arguably the toughest pitch of the competition.

Come the knockouts, Rahul took his game to another level, with scores of 42* and 34* in the semifinal against Australia and the final against New Zealand. With India in a spot of bother on both occasions in tricky run-chases, Rahul used all his experience and versatiltily to calm the nerves and propel the side to victory.

Batting aside, Rahul also kept wickets to four different spinners on turning tracks to enable the optimum team balance. He finished with 140 runs in the tournament while being dismissed only once, at an average of 140 and a strike rate of 97.90.

# 4 Axar Patel

The move to promote Axar Patel to No.5 worked wonders for Team India [Credit: Getty]

Axar Patel's contributions in the 2025 Champions Trophy may be forgotten in a few years' time, considering the lack of eye-popping numbers. However, he was the glue in the Indian batting and bowling lineup, providing timely breakthroughs and runs in all matches.

The 31-year-old dismissed key batters like Kane Williamson, Muhammad Rizwan, and Glenn Maxwell - the first two when they were well-set. 109 runs and five wickets might not sound like much, but the impact was anything but.

Axar's economy of 4.35 meant India were able to maintain control and wrestle away the initiative in the middle overs of the opposition's batting innings.

# 3 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli produced a couple of batting masterclasses in tense run-chase [Credit: Getty]

The 2025 Champions Trophy was a slightly unusual way of domination from Virat Kohli - with impact taking precedence over consistency. The 36-year-old did not register a half-century in three out of India's five games, yet, played a massive role in them lifting the trophy.

Kohli was one of only two centurions for India in the competition, with his match-winning 100* against Pakistan helping the side qualify for the semifinal. In the semifinal against Australia, the champion batter showed for an umpteenth time why he was regarded by most as the ultimate 'Chase Master'.

With India struggling at 43 for 2 in their run-chase of 265 against the defending ODI World champions, Kohli produced a brilliant 84 off 98 deliveries to lead the side to the final.

The 36-year-old finished as India's second-highest scorer in the competition with 218 runs at an average of 54.50 and a strike rate of 82.88 in five outings.

# 2 Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer was India's most consistent batter throughout the competition [Credit: Getty]

If Axar Patel was the guts and glue of India's all-round showing in the 2025 Champions Trophy, Shreyas Iyer was their Mr. Reliable with the willow. Batting at No. 4, a position which was often India's Achilles heel, the 30-year-old often combatted the opposition's best spinners with skill and will.

Iyer scored over 40 in India's last four outings, including a crucial 45 in the semifinal and 48 in the final. India's unsung hero finished with 243 runs, the second highest of the tournament, at an average of 48.60 and a strike rate of almost 80.

# 1 Varun Chakaravarthy

Varun Chakaravarthy toyed with opposition batters through skill and mystique [Credit: Getty]

Has there been a better 12 months of white-ball bowling by a spinner than the one Varun Chakaravarthy has produced from IPL 2024? After helping Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) complete a dominant title run, Varun started taking wickets for fun in T20Is.

It led to his selection to the Indian ODI side in the England series before the Champions Trophy. Finally, his eleventh-hour inclusion in the Champions Trophy squad raised several eyebrows, only for the Tamil Nadu spinner to silence any such noise with his performances in the tournament.

After missing the first two games, Varun made the New Zealand batters dance to his tunes in the final Group A game, picking up incredible figures of 5 for 42. He then removed India's 'headache', Travis Head, at a crucial stage with the batter on 39 in the semifinal against Australia.

In the final, Varun broke a blossoming 57-run opening stand for New Zealand by trapping Will Young in front. He then broke the Kiwis' back further by cleaning up a well-set Glenn Phillips on 34.

Varun finished as India's joint-leading wicket-taker with nine scalps at an average of 15.11 and an economy of 4.53 despite missing two out of the five matches. Beyond the numbers, the talented spinner made a Bumrah-esque dent in the opposition's batters even before they took the field - an impact that cannot be quantified by raw numbers.