The India captain opened up after his side won the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, dismissing rumours about his retirement during the post-match press conference .
Captain Rohit Sharma was Player of the Match in the Final, thanks to his 76 off 83 balls that drove India towards triumph. The Men in Blue restricted New Zealand to 251/7 before securing a win by four wickets in the Champions Trophy Final.
Rohit also confirmed, after rumours had swirled all tournament, that he will not be retiring from the one-day international format any time soon.
“One more thing, I’m not going to retire from this format, just to make sure no more rumours are going to get spread,” he said to much laughter.
He had already retired from T20Is last year following India’s win in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
In an ODI career that began in 2007, Rohit has now played 273 matches, scoring 11,168 runs, with his high score of 264 coming against Sri Lanka in 2014.
He added that India’s success depends not just on their skill – but also how much they are enjoying their cricket.
After leading his side to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, he spoke to the media and revealed some of the principles that have underscored an incredible run of success in ICC tournaments – including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup last year.
“It shows a lot of quality in the team, a lot of depth, a lot of understanding within the group, a lot of enjoyment, a lot of excitement,” he said. “That is how we want to play our cricket. There is too much pressure from the outside…there is so much speculation that happens.
“The boys in the team have managed to put that aside and just focus on how to win games and how to enjoy the game.”
He added: “I’m really, really proud being the captain of this team…to play the finals of all four trophies was really good and shows how consistent we are as a team.”
Source: ICC
