Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar took centre stage and talked about how important KL Rahul was in India’s Champions Trophy 2025 winning campaign.
The Indian team put in an exceptional performance throughout the recently concluded Champions Trophy 2025. Taking on New Zealand in the summit clash of the competition, the Men in Blue registered a comfortable win against the Black Caps and went on to win their third Champions Trophy title.
Throughout the competition, there were several players who made a huge impact for the Indian team, and one of the stars who looked in excellent touch was wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul. The 32-year-old was quite versatile in his role and even went on to play an excellent knock in the final.
Looking at his performances, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar took centre stage and heaped massive praise on KL Rahul. Manjrekar opined that the Champions Trophy final knock was very important for Rahul, considering that he had his thoughts on the ODI World Cup final knock that he played as well.
“Very important for him because he was carrying that bogey of that final where he played a little slowly. He had that very candid interview where he said that it haunted him, hurt him. And to have these two innings – what I loved about him was the state of mind when he was chasing. He looked very comfortable,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
“The only enemy that KL Rahul has is not the bowler but his own state of mind. And he looked very relaxed and he was very happy to just carry on. He has the big shots at his beck and call. So, all that was great to see,” Manjrekar went on to add.
Notably, KL Rahul ended the Champions Trophy 2025 after scoring 140 runs in four innings. He played several handy knocks, despite coming in to bat at no. 6 for the Men in Blue. His performances were undoubtedly crucial as India remained unbeaten and went on to defeat New Zealand, clinching the Champions Trophy title.