New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner reflected on the defeat in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final against India, calling the outcome ‘bittersweet.’
A swift half-century from captain Rohit Sharma, solid knocks from Shreyas Iyer, and excellent spells from the spinners, particularly Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, helped an all-round India secure their third ICC Champions Trophy title, defeating New Zealand by four wickets in Dubai on Sunday.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, the left-arm spinner praised his team for challenging India throughout the game but also acknowledged that they let the match slip away on several occasions.
“It’s bittersweet in the end. We came up against a good side in the final. We challenged India at times throughout the game, which was pleasing. There were a couple of small moments where we let it get away from us,” Santner told the media, as quoted by ICC.
“I’m incredibly proud of this group and the way we’ve gone about it throughout the tournament. We’ve had a mix of experienced players and a few younger players in the squad. It’s been an easy team to captain, with different guys stepping up at different times throughout the tournament, which has been outstanding,” he added.
The 33-year-old also had kind words for India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, who was named Player of the Match for his brilliant performance in the final. Sharma scored an exceptional 76 runs from 83 balls, which included seven boundaries and three sixes.
“We were in the game for most of it, but we probably left 20 runs out there with the bat. The way Rohit Sharma played took the game away from us. We lost to a better side today”, Santner said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Santner refused to be disheartened by another defeat in a final, pointing out, “If you make finals, you’re coming up against another great team who are also playing some good cricket. I was proud of the way we fought tonight. We pride ourselves on not giving up, and I don’t think we did.”
“You always want to win one of these, and I don’t know how many more chances we’ll get, but this is up there for us. We were playing some good cricket leading into this. We thought we had a real shot today, but we got beaten by a good team,” the Kiwi skipper added.
