'Rohit Sharma took it away from us’: New Zealand captain Santner on India's Champions Trophy triumph

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner acknowledged that Rohit Sharma’s commanding knock was the defining factor in India’s four-wicket win in the Champions Trophy final. He described the defeat as a "bittersweet end" but remained proud of his team’s effort. "I think the way Rohit Sharma played kind of took it away from us," Santner said at the post-match press conference after India successfully chased down 252 in a tense finish on Sunday. "Obviously, India here understood the conditions in Dubai perfectly and played some good cricket. Yeah, I guess it's kind of bittersweet at the end."

Despite the loss, Santner praised his side’s performance throughout the tournament. "I think we came up against a good side in the final. We challenged at times throughout this game, which was pleasing, and I think there were probably a couple of small moments where we let it get away from us. But yeah, incredibly proud of this group, the way we've kind of gone about it throughout this tournament," he added.

With this victory, India became the first team to win the Champions Trophy three times, having previously lifted the title in 2002 and 2013. They dominated the tournament, winning all their matches, with spinners playing a crucial role in restricting New Zealand to 251/7. Rohit Sharma’s 76 off 83 balls set the tone, while Hardik Pandya (48) and KL Rahul (34 not out) absorbed the pressure to see India through.

Santner admitted that New Zealand missed the presence of pacer Matt Henry, the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 10 scalps, who was ruled out of the final due to a shoulder injury. "He's an outstanding bowler. We've seen he seems to be able to nip it on wickets that don't look like they should nip, so I guess we missed that today. I feel for Matty — he's a massive team man, and he looked pretty distraught. You know, we just kind of said, like, let's do it for him. He tried everything he could to be ready for this game and unfortunately for us, he wasn't quite there," Santner said.

The Kiwi skipper also highlighted the contrast in playing conditions from their semifinal win against South Africa in Lahore to the final in Dubai. "I guess we just keep coming up against India, which is always a challenge. We knew the conditions were going to be slightly different again from the semifinal, but we were ready for that. I thought we still put in a pretty good performance, and we took India deep. But I guess there's always a few moments in every game, let alone every final, where you can potentially look back at," he said.