The final of the Champions Trophy 2025 is no longer far. It has been decided which two teams will be competed. After 25 years, once again, India and New Zealand will clash to achieve this trophy. Both teams are full of star players, who have performed amazing not only in this tournament but also in their long career. But there is also a player who considers himself a golfer, not a cricketer and has now become the hero of his team without any commotion. These players are New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner.

On Sunday, March 9, when the teams of India and New Zealand take the ground, the eyes will be on players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Kane Williamson, Glenn Philips and Rachin Rabindra. These are the names that dominate the media. They make and make headlines. Everyday new trends are caused on social media. But these Mitchell Santner are completely different from them because they are not part of any of them. Despite this, when he lands at Dubai International Stadium on March 9, he will have a chance to make headlines and cause trends.

But how did Santner suddenly become the hero of New Zealand? The last 60 days have an important role behind this. Although left-arm spin-all-rounder Santner has been active in international cricket for the last about 10 years and during this time, New Zealand has won many important matches but the last 60 days have been special for him. In fact, on 18 December, Santner was appointed as New Zealand's full time white-ball captain. Earlier, on some occasions he had captained the team, but this time this responsibility came completely on his shoulders. Since then, this player has been continuously carrying forward his team with difficult conditions and limited resources.

New Zealand's first series after Santner became captain was against Sri Lanka in the first week of January. New Zealand won this ODI series 2–1. Then after this the T20 series also came to New Zealand with this scorline. After this, the Bari was prepared for the Champions Trophy and for this the Kiwi team went on a tour of Pakistan, where he had to play the series with South Africa and Pakistan. New Zealand also won this series in the finals and now in the Champions Trophy, the Kiwi team continues to be amazing under the captaincy of Santner, on which it will play the final of this tournament after 16 years.

By the way, Santner has been playing international cricket for the last 10 years and also takes part in different T20 leagues around the world. Despite this, he only calls himself a part time cricketer. Yes, on Instagram, he has told his identity of full time golfer and part time cricketer. They spend a lot of time even while playing golf.

Now he is close to giving his country a big success after 25 years, where he is facing the team, which he has been harassing earlier. In the Test series last year, Santner wrote the story of defeat by taking 13 wickets against India. At the same time, in the 2016 T20 World Cup, he also took 4 wickets against India. Similarly, in T20 World Cup 2021, he took 1 wicket against India. In such a situation, once again in the final, they can become a threat to Team India and can also become the new hero of their country.