Captain Rohit Sharma hailed India’s “great, great milestone” of winning 23 out of the 24 completed matches under his leadership in the last three ICC tournaments since 2023.

Since the ODI World Cup 2023, India have dominated the ICC events and won two successive trophies including the T20 World Cup 2024 last year, and the Champions Trophy 2025 on Sunday night (March 9) in Dubai.

Also read: Rohit says not quitting ODIs

What Rohit said

Speaking to the media after leading India to a record third Champions Trophy title, Rohit said the run of winning matches in global tournaments showed the quality of the team.

“That’s a great, great milestone to have, honestly speaking,” Rohit said about India’s 23 wins out of 24 completed matches while one game, against Canada, was washed out due to rain in the T20 World Cup.

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“It speaks to the kind of team this is. I know we reached the ODI World Cup and lost that final. But then we went to the T20 World Cup and didn’t lose a single game. We went on to win the trophy here as well,” he added.

Dealing with external pressure

Further, Rohit said there was too much pressure on the team from the outside.

“That shows the quality in the team. A lot of depth. A lot of understanding within the group. A lot of excitement. And that is how we want to play our cricket. That’s what we had spoken before the tournament – that there’s too much pressure on the outside. If one game, India loses, or the match goes here and there, there’s so much speculation that happens.

“But the boys and the team have actually managed to put that aside, and just focused on how to win games and how to enjoy the game. That’s been the most important aspect of our game in the last two or three years that we’ve been here,” Rohit, who top-scored with 76 in the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand, explained.

Photos: How India celebrated Champions Trophy win

On winning two ICC titles in two years, he reflected, “It is a great team achievement for the team to win two ICC trophies and to go undefeated is the icing on the cake. I have seen very few teams that have won two tournaments undefeated. We used the conditions well and won. There’s no future plan, whatever is happening will keep happening.”

ODI World Cup 2023 final loss

After winning 10 games in a row in the ODI World Cup 2023, India lost the final to Australia. This time in Dubai, Rohit said, the team did not give up till the end in Dubai.

“We lost the 2023 final after playing such terrific cricket in nine games. So with the same mindset, with the same intention, with the same game plan, we went to play the final. But we talked about the fact that (we) don’t give up till the game is over. This is what we spoke about before these two finals – that we’ve to stay in the game till the end,” he said.

The Mumbai batter praised all team members for contributing to the success of the side. “If you look at numbers 1 to 11, the players who got a chance to bat or bowl, they have contributed in their own ways. Eventually, when everyone plays together and a lot of people contribute, you get a lot of success consistently. In this tournament, we saw the players who got a chance to bowl played their part. The players who got a chance to bat won us games.”

“It was not like only one player scored all the runs in the tournament. Everyone has contributed here and there because we knew that wickets were challenging here (in Dubai), and it’s not easy for everyone. So getting all contributions from top to bottom was crucial,” he said.