According to the official ICC website, although Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s experience formed the foundation of India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 victory, their all-rounders provided excellent support. As noted in the official ICC site, Ponting said in ICC Review, “Their all-rounders right throughout the tournament were outstanding.” “(Ravindra) Jadeja, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya stood out.” Ponting said, “I said at the start of the competition I believed India would be extremely difficult to defeat because of their overall balance and that blend of youth and experience, and again, in a final, the captain rises and gets the job done for his team.””
India had a vast variety of choices with the ball and displayed amazing batting depth in three all-rounders starting in their playing XI in all five of their recent Champions Trophy contests.
Deconstructing their contributions, Ponting said, “They were a very well balanced side anyway, but because they had so many all-rounders…when you&’ve got Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, who they used up the order on a number of occasions for that left-handed option, and with Jadeja there as well, they were a very well balanced team.
He added, “The only thing you would probably say, they probably looked a little bit light on fast bowling, but as it turned out, they didn’t need that.”
“Where Hardik Pandya’s role is particularly essential is in being able to bowl with a new ball and get through some overs early to make it somewhat simpler for the spinners in the backend of their Powerplay as well as through the middle overs where they mostly bowl and spin essentially right through the center of the game,” he remarked.
Coming into bat mostly at number five, Axar—a common member of the Indian squad—was also praised by Ponting.
“According to me, Axar Patel is the other one who deserves much recognition for this competition. Ponting said, “I believe his bowling was as steady and solid as you’ll ever find.
“He observed: “Then, only some of those little cameos he hit with the bat, coming early and kind of calming the ship and simply making life a bit easier for the middle order in KL Rahul, Pandya, and Jadeja… I think he deserves a lot of credit for his event.”
