When Ravindra Jadeja, on the last ball of the 49th over of the innings, pulled O’Rourke for four to hand India its third Championship trophy, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli—the doyens of Indian cricket—broke into impromptu dandiya celebrations in the desert to mark the victory. This was the fourth ICC trophy to bear the names of the duo.

It was a night of redemption for Rohit, the captain and ICC Player of the Match (76 runs), who put on a blistering 105-run opening partnership with Vice-Captain Shubman Gill (31 runs)—the first opening century partnership of the tournament. Only a few months ago after a string of poor performances, Rohit had been ignominiously left out of the Sydney Test in Australia. Even heading into the Champions Trophy final, there were murmurs of his possible retirement had India lost.

India did not have the best start, as their captain lost his 15th consecutive toss. The probability of losing 15 tosses in a row is an astonishingly low 1 in 32,768 (as calculated by ESPNcricinfo), yet this has now happened to India in men’s ODIs. The 15 consecutive tosses lost by India mark the longest streak for any team in men’s ODIs; the previous record was held by the Netherlands, who lost 11 tosses between 2011 and 2013.

For Rohit Sharma as captain, this was the 12th consecutive toss lost in ODIs since he last won one against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup semi-final. He has now equalled the longest streak of lost tosses for a captain in men’s ODIs—previously set by Brian Lara, who lost 12 tosses between 1998 and 1999.

Despite Rohit losing every toss in the tournament, Team India—pre-tournament favourites, even in the absence of their star bowler Jasprit Bumrah—played like a dream XI, winning all five matches comprehensively. Though in the final, there were tense moments in the middle (when India suffered a sudden mini-collapse, losing three quick wickets) and towards the end (when every run mattered), India ultimately conquered New Zealand in style, winning by four wickets with six balls to spare.

In the semi-final and three league matches as well, it was a dream run for India. The team defeated Australia by four wickets in the semi-final, while in the group stage, India beat New Zealand by 44 runs, thrashed Pakistan by six wickets, and overcame Bangladesh by six wickets with more than three overs........

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