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New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner admitted that Indian skipper Rohit Sharma's attacking approach puts fear in bowlers. In the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final, Rohit attacked New Zealand pacers in the run chase making full use of the powerplay overs. His 76-run knock helped India chase down the total of 252 with four wickets in hand. After the defeat, Santner credited Rohit and his opening partner Shubman Gill for dominating the Kiwi bowlers.
"I guess if you would ask Rohit before the tournament which game he'd like to score the most runs, it'd probably be the final. But I think his approach, he puts fear in bowlers. They're kind of aggressive in nature. I think him and Shubman do it well. Shubman will wait for a bad ball, but Rohit is pretty happy to hit bowlers off their lengths," said Santner.
"And I guess the way he goes about it, you might fail a few times, but, like he did today, if you can really get your team off to a flyer, especially on a slow wicket, you put yourself kind of ahead of the game. And like their power play with the bat was good, and then, you know, I guess we're kind of on the back foot from there with him being probably 100 for none. So yeah, I think the way he goes about it, he might fail every now and then, but he can potentially turn one game just by the way he kind of goes about and he did that tonight," the spin-bowling all-rounder added.
Rohit's numbers in Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit was asked by many to curb his attacking approach and play more than 10 overs. After scores of 41, 20, 15 and 28, Rohit scored his first half-century of the tournament in the final. He was named 'Player of the match' for his 76-run knock laced with seven fours and three sixes.
Rohit on his attacking approach
In the post-match presentation, Rohit recalled talking about the change in his approach with former head coach Rahul Dravid.
"It is not natural to me but it is something I really wanted to do, when you are trying to do something different you need the backing of the team, you need the backing of the management and they were right through with me. In the ODI World Cup as well with Rahul bhai, this is what I spoke to him and he was very much okay with it, and now Gauti [Gautam Gambhir] bhai as well. It's all about getting the backing of the team and the management as well," Rohit said after the win.
"It's something I really wanted to do. I have played all these years in a different style, but I wanted to try and do something different, try and see if we can play differently and get the results that we were looking for. Having played here on few occasions, you understand the nature of the pitch, what it does initially upfront with the new-ball, using my feet is something I have been doing for a long time now and it is about being clear in my mind, I was very clear how I wanted to execute that first 5-6 overs, I have gotten out doing that as well but I never wanted to look away from that, the results is not going to be consistent in what I'm trying to achieve, but as long as it serves the purpose of the team, I am happy with that."
Meanwhile, Rohit has confirmed that he is not retiring from the ODI format.
