India clinched their third ICC Champions Trophy title (shared once with Sri Lanka in 2000) with a thrilling four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the final on Sunday. The Men in Blue chased down 252 in an exciting contest that went down to the 49th over. played an important role in guiding India to victory with an unbeaten 34.

Rohit Sharma's led-side delivered a clinical performance throughout the tournament and remained unbeaten. Meanwhile, after restricting the Kiwis to 251/7, India started strong with Rohit leading from the front with an attacking 76. Yet, a middle-order slump kept the opposition in the hunt, taking the chase down in the final overs. Rahul, who has been in similar situations before, held his nerve to take the side across the finish line.

"Not sure I can say this on air but I was s****** myself. As confident as I could be that I could get over the line. Keeping composure is all that matters, happy to have done it this time. I've batted in times like this in three out of the five games. Hard to put in words, but the team has pure skill. The way we've all had to play cricket growing up, we faced pressure from the time we became professional cricketers. The BCCI have groomed all of them and we've challenging ourselves to get better," Rahul told Star Sports.

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Earlier, Daryl Mitchell’s 63 off 101 and Michael Bracewell’s unbeaten 53 off 40 took the side over the 250-run mark. Rachin Ravindra also chipped in with a quick 37. However, India’s bowling effort, including Kuldeep Yadav (2/40) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2/45), ensured that the Black Caps could not accelerate towards a bigger score.

Despite a solid start, the Men in Blues' chase saw some pressure moments, especially when they lost two quick wickets after reaching 183/3. However, Rahul, alongside Hardik Pandya’s brief but impactful 18-run knock, guided the team home with one over to spare.