Hardik Pandya in action during Champions Trophy 2025.© AFP
India entered the Champions Trophy 2025 final after a sweet victory over Australia in the semi-final. The side chased down a target of 265 – the highest against Australia in ICC ODI events – thanks to significant contributions by a number of their batters. While Virat Kohli (84) and Shreyas Iyer (45) had laid the platform, the pressure to finish the game was on the shoulders of Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul. Pandya hit three big sixes in a crucial cameo, helping India get over the line.
With the run chase going down to the wire and India requiring more than run-a-ball in the final 10 overs, there were seemingly some nervous faces in the dressing room.
After getting out with India needing only six runs to win, Pandya entered the dressing room all smiles. Speaking after the game, Pandya joked with fellow all-rounder Axar Patel regarding this.
“I was smiling. I mean, I didn’t think of hitting two sixes. I knew it would happen at any time. But I knew that people must have gotten a little tense in the dressing room. I was laughing a little inside,” Pandya said, speaking in a video shared by the Indian cricket team on social media.
Pandya played a valuable cameo of 28 off 24 balls, hitting one boundary and three sixes. KL Rahul stayed unbeaten till the end on 42 off 34.
Axar Patel then elaborated on the nervousness inside the dressing room, and what people inside were thinking.
“You (Pandya) didn’t think about what would happen inside? People were thinking, ‘hey, run twos, run singles’,” Axar told Pandya.
“But I knew. I had trust in you. I was just observing the environment around me,” Axar added.
India will take on New Zealand in the Champions Trophy 2025 final on Sunday, March 9. Should they win, it would be a record third title for them.
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