Eight years on since a three-ball duck in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, India captain Rohit Sharma made amends by scoring his first half-century in an ICC tournament final during the 2025 Champions Trophy summit clash against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday.
The 37-year-old Rohit waltzed to his half-century in only 41 balls as India motored past 50 within eight overs of a 253-run chase against New Zealand.
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Playing in his 9th ICC tournament final across formats and 18 years, Rohit went past the half-century mark for the first time, bettering a 31-ball 47 against Australia during the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad.
Rohit, who went past the 11,000-run mark in ODIs recently and smashed his 32nd ODI century against England last month, has had an iffy run in the tournament in the four previous outings. Despite his starts, Rohit fell for scores of 41, 20, 15 and 28 in the league stage and the semi-final against Australia.
Rohit’s first ICC final appearance came in his debut international season in 2007 during the T20 World Cup in South Africa. The Mumbaikar chipped in with a valuable unbeaten 30 against Pakistan in a match India won by 5 runs.
Rohit Sharma in ICC tournament finals
30* v Pakistan – T20 World Cup 2007
9 v England – Champions Trophy 2013
29 v Sri Lanka – T20 World Cup 2014
0 v Pakistan- Champions Trophy 2017
34 & 30 v New Zealand – World Test Championship 2021
15 & 43 v Aus World Test Championship 2023
47 v Australia – World Cup 2023
9 v South Africa – T20 World Cup 2024
50* (batting) – v New Zealand – – Champions Trophy 2017
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