Former Indian Cricketer expresses dissatisfaction despite Shreyas Iyer's strong performance in India's Champions Trophy win

New Delhi: India created history by clinching the ICC Champions Trophy after a sensational victory over New Zealand. The team showcased an exceptional performance, maintaining an unbeaten record throughout the entire tournament. They outperformed their opponents in the group stage, defeating Bangladesh, Pakistan, and New Zealand, followed by a triumph over Australia in the semifinals.

Shreyas Iyer enjoyed a remarkable season, finishing as India’s top run-scorer with 243 runs from 5 matches, averaging 48.60. He played a crucial 48-run innings in the final, helping India recover after the early dismissals of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli. However, Iyer was unable to see the game through and was dismissed with India still needing 69 runs for victory.

Former India cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar lauded Iyer for his performance but expressed disappointment with the manner of his dismissal, stating that he should have remained at the crease until the end. “Iyer did very well but I am not happy [with] the way he got out in the final. He should have continued till the very end and finished the game. But happy to see him realise his potential,” Vengsarkar told PTI.

In the meantime, India opted for KL Rahul over Rishabh Pant in the Champions Trophy, and the right-hander delivered, playing key innings in both the semifinal and final. Rahul was moved down the batting order to accommodate Axar Patel, who was promoted for the final, but Vengsarkar was not pleased with this decision. Rahul remained not out on 34 from 33 balls and helped guide the team to victory.

“KL too played a few important innings at number six but [I am] still not convinced [about] Axar Patel batting ahead of him at five. The left-hand right-hand combination could be the only reason,” he said.

This marked India’s third ICC Champions Trophy victory, with their previous wins coming in 2002 (shared with Sri Lanka) and in 2013, when they triumphed over England in the final.