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Mitchell Starc praised India's Champions Trophy 2025 victory and hailed the Indian players for his ability to step up for the team.
Australian pacer Mitchell Starc lavished praise on Team India for Champions Trophy 2025 triumph under Rohit Sharma’s leadership. Team India ended their 12-year Champions Trophy title drought with a six-wicket win over New Zealand in the final at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, March 9.
Chasing a 252-run target, Skipper Rohit Sharma led the batting with an innings of 76 off 83 balls. Shreyas Iyer (48), KL Rahul (34*), Shubman Gill (31), and Axar Patel (27) contributed significantly to India’s batting. Ravindra Jadeja had an impactful cameo as he hit a winning four to take the team over the finishing line. This was India’s second successive ICC title following the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma.
Mitchell Starc heaped praise on KL Rahul, calling him ‘mr.fixit’ for his ability to perform well in any batting position throughout the marquee event.
“KL Rahul is like Mr. Fixit for India—he has opened the batting when asked to, batted at number 6, kept, fielded, and batted in the middle order—he has done just about everything. He has played vital roles; excited to play alongside him.” the 35-year-old on the Fanatics YouTube TV channel.
KL Rahul stepped up for Team India in crunch situations. In the semifinal against Australia, the 31-year-old played an innings of 42 off 34 balls, including a match-winning six to take the team over the line. In the final, Rahul played a resilient unbeaten innings of 34 off 33 balls and stitched a 15-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja to seal the victory for the Men in Blue in the title clash against New Zealand.
In Champions Trophy 2025, KL Rahul has amassed 140 runs at an impressive average of 140 in five matches.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc will be sharing Delhi Capitals dressing room with KL Rahul in IPL 2025. Both were bought by Delhi Capitals at the IPL 2025 auction in November last year after they were released by Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants, respectively.
Despite playing a pivotal role in Kolkata Knight Riders IPL triumph last year while scalping 17 wickets for the side, Mitchell Starc was not retained by the franchise. The Kolkata-based franchise bought him at a record-breaking price of 24.75 crore, which he justified. At the IPL 2025, Delhi Capitals acquired the services of Australian pacer for INR 11.75 crore, which is a massive 52.5% pay cut compared to his previous contract with Kolkata Knight Riders.
KL Rahul, on the other hand, was snapped up for INR 14 crore by Delhi Capitals. KL Rahul was part of LSG for three seasons from 2022 to 2024 before he was released from the setup ahead of the IPL auction.
Delhi Capitals will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants at the ACA International Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on March 24.
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