Rohit Sharma etches his name alongside Imran Khan, Clive Lloyd after CT triumph

India National Cricket Team skipper Rohit Sharma created history after guiding Team India to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 triumph on Sunday, March 9.

Rohit Sharma has joined the likes of Clive Lloyd and Imran Khan in legendary lists after his and Team India's dominating performance in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final against Team New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Also Read: Watch: Rohit Sharma forces ICC chairman Jay Shah to dance wildly after India's CT 2025 win

Rohit Sharma led from the front in the ICC Champions Trophy final

The 37-year-old displayed a brilliant captaincy in the high-voltage clash, and he was spot on with his bowling changes and field placements.

Rohit made sure to execute his plans well on the field after losing the toss and Indian bowlers managed to restrict New Zealand to 251/7 in 50 overs, which was a gettable score.

While chasing the target, Rohit once again provided his team with a flying start and allowed his opening partner, Shubman Gill, to take his time.

Rohit smashed the Kiwis all over the park and looked unstoppable in the initial half of the innings. However, he slowed down and dropped his aggressive approach when India lost Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli in quick succession.

Rohit tried to take the game deep but was eventually dismissed in the 27th over Rachin Ravindra while going for a boundary. He scored 76 runs off 83 balls, with 7 fours and 3 sixes, before getting dismissed and also won the Player of the Match award for his heroics.

After Rohit got out, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with crucial contributions to help India win by 4 wickets with 6 balls remaining.

Rohit Sharma joins Imran Khan, and Clive Lloyd in legendary clubs

As Rohit won the Player of the Match award in the final, he became just the fourth skipper in the history of ICC Men's Finals to bag the award after Clive Llyod, Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni.

Captains with POTM award in Men’s ICC tournament finals:

Clive Lloyd (West Indies, CWC 1975)

Ricky Ponting (Australia, CWC 2003)

MS Dhoni (India, CWC 2011)

Rohit Sharma (India, CT 2025)

With the Champions Trophy 2025 triumph, Rohit clinched his 4th major title as captain, having won Asia Cup 2018, Asia Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2022 earlier. Due to this, he joined Imran Khan, MS Dhoni, and Ricky Ponting in the legendary club to win 4 major tournaments as captains in events featuring at least 5 teams.

Rohit also became only the second Indian captain in men's cricket to win more than one ICC title and now he has overall four ICC titles in his kitty.

Team India have been absolutely dominant under the leadership of Rohit in their last three ICC events, winning 23 out of 24 matches. Also, India, who won their 3rd Champions Trophy title, have a great record in the marquee 50-over competition, winning 23 out of 34 matches. Notably, no other team has more than 15 wins in the competition’s history.

Rohit Sharma Captain Marvellous - Sourav Ganguly

The former India National Cricket Team skipper and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, Sourav Ganguly, was extremely impressed with the performance of skipper Rohit and he labelled him as 'captain marvellous'.

"Superb effort by india .. What a performance in world tournaments last 2 yrs . so much depth in the squad .. congratulations to all .. Rohit sharma captain marvellous ..@bcci," the legendary India National Cricket Team cricketer Sourav Ganguly wrote on X.

Superb effort by india .. What a performance in world tournaments last 2 yrs . so much depth in the squad .. congratulations to all .. Rohit sharma captain marvellous ..@bcci

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) March 9, 2025