Triumph. Dances. Smiles. Hugs. History! As we rush out to burst crackers and celebrate India’s epic Champions Trophy triumph, let’s quickly read what some of the players had to say after getting us home...

Rohit Sharma | Player of the Match | Winning Captain: “It feels very nice. We played some really good cricket through the tournament, to come out and have the result our way is a great feeling, very happy with how we played this game. It is not natural to me but it is something I really wanted to do, when you are trying something different you need the backing of the team and they were with me, Rahul bhai in the 2023 World Cup and now with Gauti bhai. I have played all these years in a different style, I wanted to see if we can get results by playing differently.”

Shubman Gill: “Felt amazing, for the most part I was sitting back and enjoying Rohit’s batting. We kept talking to each other and the partnership was very important for us. He told me it doesn’t matter how many balls you are behind, just keep looking at the scoreboard and you have to play till the end. Definitely very satisfying, we missed out on the last one playing in 2023. Winning this one is an amazing feeling, winning 8 ODIs back to back starting with the ODIs against England.”

Virat Kohli: “It's been amazing, we wanted to bounce back after a tough Australian tour, and wanted to win a big tournament, so to win the Champions Trophy is amazing. Lovely playing with a bunch of such amazing youngsters. So much talent in the dressing room, they're taking Indian cricket further in the right direction. We’re happy to share our experience and try to make an impact whenever we get a chance (role of the seniors) but these guys are stepping up in a massive way and that’s why we’re such a strong team.”

Kuldeep Yadav: “It is easy to say we are playing 4 spinners but it is very difficult to manage four spinners on the field. The way Rohit managed it was outstanding. Because to read the batter, understand which batter will come out in certain situations, who should bowl when.. There is a lot of planning. It is not like it happens in one day.”

Shreyas Iyer: “Feeling ecstatic, it’s ineffable, hard to put it into words. It’s my first ICC trophy, I’m out of words looking at everyone. The way everyone has performed, it’s been great. To be honest, I love to play under pressure, I feel like I thrive under pressure. I’ve been getting into such situations and it was great to contribute to the win.”

Hardik Pandya: “It's always amazing to win an ICC tournament, especially the Champions Trophy. 2017 was close to my heart. We couldn't finish the job that time. Pleased with how everyone contributed this time.”

KL Rahul: “I don’t think I can say this on camera but I was shitting myself. We had a couple of batters to come but I was tense. It’s all about keeping yourself calm and composed in situations like this. I think I’ve batted in times like this in 3 out of the 5 games (in this CT) and in one of the games I didn’t get to bat at all against Pakistan. Hard to put it into words, pure skill and the way we’ve all played our cricket growing up, had to face a lot of challenges, we’ve had to face pressure from the time we’ve held a bat and decided to become professional cricketers. The way the BCCI has groomed us and the domestic circuit has trained us to handle pressure and do well in circumstances like these.”