Former India pacer Laxmi Ratan Shukla heaped praise on Rohit Sharma’s leadership skills and his batting. Men in Blue beat New Zealand by four wickets in the final to lift their third Champions Trophy title on Sunday. Rohit scored 76 laced with seven fours and three sixes to set the foundation for the chase as Shreyas Iyer (48), Axar Patel (29), Hardik Pandya (18) and KL Rahul (34 not out) also contributed with the bat to take the side over the line in Dubai. Under Rohit’s captaincy, India lifted their second ICC silverware in less than nine months after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup against South Africa in Bridgetown. It was also India’s fourth consecutive ICC final inLess than two years – the World Test Championship (WTC) in 2023, the ODI World Cup in 2024 and the Champions Trophy in 2025. The veteran pacer, who played three ODIs for India in 1999, also lauded India head coach Gautam Gambhir’s tactical brilliance of including mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy in India’s squad ahead of the tournament.