Saji Chacko
THE Men in Blue brought joy to the billions of cricket fans by winning the Champions Trophy in Dubai on March 9. India proved their dominance in white ball cricket by claiming their second major ICC title – after World T20 title last year – defeating New Zealand by four wickets. It was also a sweet revenge for Team India it had lost to New Zealand in the final of the 2000 Champions Trophy.
India were easily the best team in the tournament as they didn’t lose a single match en route to the title. Their forte was batting and the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli showed why they are the best in the business.
Captain and Hit Man Rohit Sharma top-scored in the final with a belligerent knock of 76, to set the tempo for the India win. Virat Kohli was at his consistent best scoring 218 runs in five matches with a century against Pakistan to underscore the fact that he is the best one-day batsman of all time.
Spinners Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldip Yadav spun a web around the opponents and throt – tled them all through the tournament.
