Alcaraz's Remarkable Roland Garros Conquest amidst Crazy Coincidences!

Carlos Alcaraz pulled off one of the greatest heists in ages to seal an improbable Roland Garros Championship. It was virtually gravity defying as just around an hour earlier in to the match, he was on the back-foot staving off 3 match points in the fourth set. To surmount a comeback from that stage by turning it around and winning an epic 5 set thriller caps off one of the most miraculous achievements ever witnessed in sport.

It almost looked like a foregone conclusion as it seemed impossible for Carlos to spot any aperture with his opponent Sinner literally unrelenting not giving any room whatsoever. What Alcaraz did to make a way back will be etched in sporting memorabilia and remembered as a history defining sporting moment. It also reinforced the important life lesson of  "nothing is impossible" , "never give up" and "it's never over till it's actually over".

Going into the final, both the challengers had an unblemished record in Grand Slam finals with Alcaraz winning all his 4 slam final prior and Sinner emerging victorious in all the 3 slam finals that he had participated in. So, it was a given that one record was on the line with a final defeat inevitable for either one of them. Also it was after a long time that the World #1 was going head to head in a clash with the World #2 with stakes being extremely high. Sinner was the man in a rich vein of form going into the final having won all of his 6 encounters without dropping a single set along the way. This also included a convincing victory over the all time leader in the Grand Slam pack viz Novak Djokovic thus preventing Nole from adding a 25th Grand Slam to his tally. Though Alcaraz didn't feel like he was at his real best in this tournament, he did have a one-up over Sinner having just recently coming out on top in the Rome Masters final which was a clay court event played a week before the French Open. This one seemed like a battle between a missile machine in the form of Sinner against a mercurial maverick in the presence of Alcaraz who's known for doing mind blowing things on the tennis court when on song.

It was not just the victory which was super savoury sweet but also the crazy coincidences at play with the universe probably egging Carlos Alcaraz on to recreate history and making sure there was a bizarre alignment with his fellow Spaniard and local childhood hero Rafael Nadal. When Rafa had won his 5th Grand Slam in 2008, he was 22 years, one month and 3 days old. The cosmic energies played a upending trick by making Alcaraz play his 5th Grand Slam final weirdly at the exact age of 22 years, one month and 3 days old in 2025. This seemed pretty outrageous to even apprehend. For a better part of the match it did look like it was only a hoodwink and that the result wouldn't go according to plan what with Sinner dominating the initial part of the match and setting up 3 match points and on course to win a pretty comfortable final. But remarkably from out of the blue, Alcaraz rose like a phoenix from the Ashes and staged a turnaround which was much beyond the realms of a fairy tale to script a win out of the extraordinary to match the feat of winning his 5th Grand Slam final at the exact ditto day, age and month of Rafa Nadal. I am still gushing for words as to how the almighty could write such a script for 2 spectacular Spanish super stars born 17 years apart from one another (Nadal 3rd Jun 1986 and Alcaraz 5th May 2003) and 2 Grand Slam tennis tournament finals held 17 years cut off from each other. (Wimbledon 6th July 2008 and French Open 8th June 2025) [The exact difference between both being 16 years 11 months and 2 days]

Apart from the age being exactly akin, there were few more similarities brought forth to the table. Both Nadal and Alcaraz won their respective matches outlasting their opponents in 5 set thrillers. The icing on the cake is that when Nadal prevailed over Federer in the dim evening light of Wimbledon in 2008, it was considered to be one of the greatest matches ever to be played in the hallowed turf of grass. He also in the process prevented Federer from winning his 6th straight Wimbledon title. Likewise with Alcaraz winning Sinner in a slug fest of a 5 setter by coming from 2 sets down, this marks as one of the greatest matches ever to be played on the red clay of Paris in a final. Both these encounters would arguably compete against each other in being the finest Grand Slam final ever to be played in tennis history. Also at that time in 2008, when Nadal finally overcame Federer it was the longest ever Championship match lasting 4 hours and 48 minutes. This was however overtaken in 2019 when Djokovic defeated Federer in the final lasting 4 hours and 57 minutes. Incidentally Djokovic also came back from match point down to win the final in another of Wimbledon's greatest finals. Alcaraz winning over Sinner incidentally happened to be the longest ever final in Roland Garros extending to 5 hours 29 minutes being even longer than the Nadal vs Federer clash in 2008. In both occasions it was the longest ever final at that particular moment in time. Another eerie similarity to take note is that in both the finals pertaining to 2008 and 2025, 2 of the sets were won by a scoreline of 6-4 and two of the sets were won in a tie break 7-6. However back in those days, the final set wasn't decided through a tie breaker and kept lingering on with Nadal prevailing 9-7 whereas in this case Alcaraz won the deciding 10 point tie breaker with scores level at 6-6 in the 5th set. To add to the murkiness, in 2008 Wimbledon Federer was seeded 1 and Nadal 2 with the latter becoming the victor and voila the same happened in 2025 French Open with Sinner being seeded 1 and Alcaraz 2 with the latter again coming out on top. To add to the spine chilling effect is the fact that both the opponents who lost were August month born and Leo Sun signs. (Federer 8th Aug 1981 and Sinner 16th Aug 2001)

One must be privileged to have even been witness to such breath taking borderline brilliance. It's a pity that one had to lose in this rivalry. Arguably this comeback by Alcaraz to win the French Open final of 2025 should rank in as one of the greatest comebacks in the history of sport. It was simply sheer spellbinding and master craftsmanship at it's zenith. It's really hard to choose whether this would usurp the Nadal win over Federer in 2008 as both had it's moments etched in unrivalled artistry. Both the 2008 Wimbledon Final and the 2025 French Open Final would be celebrated for eternity and remembered for eons to come. The mysterious coincidences making a wizardly symmetry just adds that extra bit of sparkle deeming this tennis match final extremely special and truly mind boggling.

RCB's IPL 2025 triumph and the divine interplay of #9!

It was 18 years in waiting for the Royal Challengers Bangalore as they finally managed to win the coveted IPL title that had been eluding them for all these years. It was a testimony to the fans who have stood by the team through thick and thin despite the disappointments repeating time and again. It was also the moment of reckoning for King Kohli who has been the face of this franchise right from it's inception in 2008. 

18 years is a long period of time and he has been the one cricketer who has solely believed in this franchise and been steadfast in support of this team not being veered away despite all the tribulations that have come by. As ex RCB player Ross Taylor aptly put it "No one deserves it more than him for carrying on the hopes of millions of fans with unmatched dedication and belief". It was pretty emotional to see him running towards his better half Anushka Sharma soaking in the jubilation of victory. Also it must have been special to have 2 of his ex mates AB Devilliers and Chris Gayle in the house cheering him on to finally achieve this dream come true moment for RCB.

The streets of Bangalore have been lit with fireworks ablaze amidst the city congregating in unparalleled joy in celebrating this win for the ages. It is a city known for it's partying and rest assured that the fun will be lasting for a long time to come. It's a drought that has been ended and there is no second guessing on what this means to them. As a cricket crazy city who've lived on hope since time immemorial for this moment to happen, this is what they were all waiting for and you can expect Bangalore to be buzzing with an insanely electrifying atmosphere.

Hard work plays a major role and in RCB's case it has been evident the way they have played this year especially at venues away from home. There have been good performances put up by the team in previous seasons as well but the luck was always faltering upon them. It almost seemed destined that RCB were just not cut out to win. They have also been a side who have choked on the all important encounters giving their fans heartbreak time and again. Efforts apart, there is also some divine intervention required and this time it seemed imminent that God was willing to grant his blessings onto them.

In relation to this, it was hard not to notice a strange synchronisation with #9 in RCB's triumph which seemed to kind of indicate that destiny was with them. As per Numerology, No.9 which also includes numbers that add up to 9 such as 18,27 etc is represented by the planet 'Mars' and from an Astrology standpoint, the 9th is indicative of 'Bhagya' which means Luck, Destiny, Fortune. There were so many coincidences of 9's at play converging together kind of symbolically conveying that a higher realisation was with RCB this time in their quest towards their maiden IPL triumph.

It seemed even more evident when the dates of the whole tournament got changed more than midway through on account of unforeseen incidents which indirectly paved the way for everything to nicely fall in place perfectly for RCB. Signs play a role in pointing things out and it was vividly clear that #9 was coming to their aid and telling them that this was the year they were waiting for. Let's briefly look at the all the events inter-playing with the number 9 connection.

- Season 18 (1+8 = 9)
This was the 18th edition of IPL which saw it's script implanted in 2008. No.18 adds up to 9. In seasons prior, RCB had come close to winning on 3 occasions but each of the finals ended up in heartbreak.

- Playoffs Reached 9
Despite not winning the actual tournament, RCB have been fairly consistent in reaching the playoffs but without having the luck to go through further. This was their 9th attempt in the playoffs and the dividends finally yielded fruit

- Years since Last Final 9
The last time RCB had reached the final was 9 years back in 2016. They were also playing the final at their home stadium of Chinnaswamy but it ended in bitter disappointment with RCB missing out on crossing the finishing line by a whisker much to the chagrin of the partisan home crowd who were rooting no end. After 9 years they reached the final again and voila finally the dream was conquered.

- Date of Final 3rd June (Date 3 + Month 6 = 9)
This was another strong indication of RCB winning this time. The final as per the original roster was scheduled for 25th May but later got changed to 3rd June due to the impending border tensions and 3rd June when adding up the date and month is 9 which again proved to be lucky for RCB. Adding up of the date and month is also termed as "Achievement Number". In fact even a multiplication of the date and month would result in 18 which again adds up to 9. 

- Year of IPL 2025 (2+0+2+5 = 9)
Adding up of the digits of the year of IPL results in 9 which again brought fortune RCBs way.

- Date Month and Year of IPL (3rd June 2025 = 3+6+2+0+2+5 = 18 = 9)
This is known as the destiny or life path number where the date, month and year are all summed up to denote a number which is again 9 mysteriously signalling signs of positiveness for RCB.

- Jersey Number 18 (1+8 = 9)
RCBs talisman and legend of the game Virat Kohli sports a #18 jersey which is representative of RCB's number. Here also 18 adds up to 9 denoting a divine significance.

- Jersey Colour Red (Red = Mars = 9)
RCB adorns a jersey largely comprising of the colour 'Red'. Here again, the final was played on a Tuesday which is reflective of Red colour and ruled by the planet Mars which is again assigned Red and denotes No.9

- Day of Final Tuesday (Tuesday is ruled by Mars which is assigned No.9)
Conventionally not just IPL but across most sporting events, the final invariable always gets played out on a Weekend. As per the initial set up, the final was expected to be held on Sunday. But due to external circumstances, the schedules at the end got tweaked resulting in the Final being played on Tuesday. This day is said to be ruled by Mars and represented by #9 again bringing luck to RCB. All the 3 finals which RCB had contested earlier all took place on Sunday.

- Tithi Lunar Day of Final Navami (Representative of 9)
A Tithi Lunar Day occurs based on the angular distance that is created between the Sun & Moon as they revolve around the zodiac belt of 360°. Every 12 degrees of movement by the Moon away from the Sun gives rise to a Tithi and hence there are 30 Tithis (360°/12) in total with 15 being part of the brighter half or what is known as Shukla Paksha and the latter 15 being part of the darker half or Krishna Paksha. At the commencement of the final, it was the 8th Tithi in operation viz Ashtami. RCB didn't start off that well and it appeared like they didn't set a par for the course total. However miraculously things changed with the emergence of Navami Tithi from approximately 10PM with RCB seizing the initiative and exerting the breaks on the opposition eventually winning the match and the title.

Additionally to add to the list of significance is the Nakshatra (star of moon) that was in operation during the match which was 'Poorva Phalguni'. Though as per modern convention 'Ashwini' is said to be the first Nakshatra, but as per Classic Vedic Astrology (Atharva Veda), 'Krithika' is said to be the first Nakshatra which symbolises ignition of fire and 'Bharani' is the last Nakshatra on account of being ruled by Lord Yama who is the God of Death emblematic of a completion of life. If Krithika is indeed considered as the first Nakshatra, then Poorva Phalguni (Pooram in Tamil) would be the 9th Nakshatra again bringing into light the #9 significance. Also RCB's star player Virat Kohli was born in Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra. As per the sacred text 'Kumaraswamiyam', the 27th Nakshatra that adds up to 9 which in this case is "Poorva Phalguni" indicates "Abhishekham" or coronation that translates to good and auspicious things tending to take place and that's exactly what happened with him being blessed and conferred with an IPL title after years and years of toil and hard work.

In essence, it can be said that RCB deserved to win the IPL 2025 which is also reinstated and reaffirmed by all the divine patterns at play pointing to No.9 denoting auspiciousness. Finally that wish of "Ee Sala Cup Namadu" has transpired into reality.

CSK's IPL 2025 - A disaster that was waiting to unfold

Chennai Super Kings prior two seasons before 2025 fetched reasonably positive results and coming into IPL 2025, there was plenty expected of the men representative of a lion sized past and seeped in yellow to add another coveted title #6 to their lustrous trophy laden cabinet. 2023 witnessed CSK conquer title No.5 in a thrilling final for the ages with a sixer and a boundary scored off the last 2 deliveries to edge out defending champions GT and seal CSK an improbable win and cement their legacy as one of the greatest teams of the IPL which set foot since the summer of 2008. 2024 however didn't go all to plan but again it wasn't a horror show by any stretch of the imagination. They just lost out by a whisker in making it to the playoffs. With 11 needed off 5 deliveries to qualify against RCB, some caution exercised could have actually seen CSK crossing the line and you never know what could have happened in the playoffs. 

2025 was the IPL season consisting of the mega auctions. CSK have always been a tried and tested formula based team pursuing on with the seasonal veterans and not to take credit away, this approach has actually worked well over a period of time. Irrespective of the outcome of this season, they have been the most consistent IPL side in reaching the playoffs and have played for the big final prize on 9 occasions out of 16 events participated. (They didn't compete for 2 seasons between 2016-17 on account of being banned).

The T20 format however has evolved and it's seen as a young man's game with huge big hitting potential igniting euphoria and getting the crowd on to it's feet. The IPL as a brand has been all rizz and razzmatazz growing multi-fold in becoming a supreme cash cow generating gargantuan wealth and seen as one of the perennial events of the sporting calendar worldwide. The 2025 auction set the tone for an overhaul and it was the perfect opportunity for a team like CSK to seek some fresh blood and set the foundation towards planning for the future especially with their talisman MS Dhoni on the verge of retirement. This also proved a ripe opportunity to develop a solid grounding for building a renewed young side who would be ready to take on the mantle when the time eventually comes about. 

Coming into the auction of 2025, CSK was handed a purse of 120 crores and ended up retaining Jadeja (18 crores), Gaikwad (18 crores), Pathirana (13 crores), Dube (12 crores) and Dhoni (4 crores as part of uncapped player) with all of them accounting for a combined sum total of 55 crores. This still left them remaining with 65 crores to pick a cream of players from a multitude pool of both local and overseas talents.

CSK botched it up on 3 key parameters - Strategy, Combination and Performance. First up was the questionable decision to retain the 2 senior pro's Dhoni and Jadeja. The former was acceptable though debatable because he was the fulcrum who constructed the base of CSK and also considering the fan following the man commands, it would have been an outcry to see him represent any other side than his beloved CSK. Also at a prize of 4 crores, it's not like a huge step off the peddle anyways. However coming to Jadeja, surely there should have been more reasoning and thought process. Jadeja is an excellent utility cricketer but well past his prime and also a retired International T20 cricketer at the time of reckoning of the auctions. To give a slice of 15% of the purse to a retired cricketer absolutely made no sense. Even if they were hell bent on retaining him, they could have easily got him in the auction for around half the prize. This was an erroneous error on all counts. Retention of Ruturaj was a given considering he was the sole contender to fill in MS shoes and already made captain at the helm. Pathirana was a far cry of the performer that he was in 2023 with a rather hapless 2024 IPL season and with all due respect to Dube, though he can tonk the ball a country mile, he always has been someone who takes time to settle in and isn't the one who can just go all guns blazing. The other retention's can be contentious but Jadeja's especially at that prize was no doubt a blunder of epic proportions.

Coming to the actual auctions, CSK was caught napping with respect to the combinations. With them already retaining Jadeja, there was a heavy bid to bring on Ashwin to partner in crime and reunite the spin twins. The prize which they went for almost breaking the 10 crore barrier was again dubious but can still said to be justifiable. If they were anyways zeroing in on Ashwin, there was absolutely no need to also go in for Noor Ahmed. The latter agreed has been the better of most of CSK's performers this season but to spend almost 40 crores which is a third of the purse value of 120 crores on just 3 players with the same speciality of spin bowling made absolutely no sense whatsoever. It was a given that they were all expected to be part of the playing team considering the prize commanded but the decision holistically just felt ludicrous and out of sync. Since Jadeja was anyways there, it should have been clearly either a homecoming for Ash or Noor and certainly and undoubtedly not both. This was as illogical as it could get.

On the fast bowling side, the management hardly went anywhere close to bagging any marquee name. Someone like a Hazlewood or Starc could have bought in a marked difference. Even a localite like Siraj/Avesh/Akashdeep could have helped in a major way. The worst was however reserved on the batting front which is the genre that arguably defines a T20 game to it's zenith. CSK went in for old foes well past their 30s by picking the likes of Tripathi, Hooda and Vijay Shankar. This was as outlandish as it could get. The combination of the side appeared forlorn and all at sea. Power hitting which is a forte of IPL cricket somehow seemed to have been blanked out and blindfolded the management. Even on the All rounders set, they went in for a Sam Curran, someone not renowned to be a power striker and another well past 30 candidate in the form of Jamie Overton. One should seriously wonder what CSK were cooking at the auction as it was literally a nightmare unravelling of all sorts. It must be said, they just went absolute bonkers with their picks at the auction.

And now coming to the performance on the field, there was nothing much to write home about. Though they began well winning their first game at home against MI, it all went downhill from there on. The fortress of CSK which teams had been battling for years to breach managed to chop it down without even blinking an eyelid. All those proud home records were eviscerated and obliterated much to the chagrin of hardcore CSK fans. Ruturaj's captaincy in the initial games felt a lot left to be desired with tactics simply not in place and his usage of bowlers was bewildering to say the least. As CSK's outright best batsman, his ruling out of the tournament led the batting performance to crumble even further. It was a sad sight to witness a once champion side struggling to chase anything around 180 with absolute zilch batting firepower. For most other teams, it felt like a victory against CSK was a foregone conclusion and just a means of boosting up the net run rate a further notch. The performance on the field was just a reflection of the poor strategy set and the lacklustre combination laid out which just didn't inspire indication of any confidence. 

Even in the match to determine the wooden spoon, CSK were undone with some bizarre ideas at play by perking Ashwin & Jadeja up the order and preserving the so called big hitters at the posterior. Also, lesser said the better on the inability to pick up runs at the fag end of the innings. However, CSK put up their most commanding performance in the last match of the season by registering a comprehensive victory over one of the table toppers GT. This meant that they ended up winning both their first and last matches of the season but it was all mostly downhill in between. This also in eventuality, meant that a much fancied and ever loved cherished team like CSK finish a shocking bottom most in the standings. The 2025 IPL in effect was a damp squib and a season which every loyal CSK supporter would want to forget very soon. It was in essence a dream that dissipated even before inception.

On the youngsters side, CSK unleashed an imperious up and coming talent on the horizon in the form of Ayush Mhatre who was brought in to the fray when CSK were almost done and dusted in the season. On the international front, a major discovery was the dashing South African youngster Dewald Brevis. But even he was being made to cool his heels and brought in only when CSK were virtually eliminated from the tournament. Even someone like an Urvil Patel came in at the very last moment and played a rapturous innings from out of nowhere. There were a few others who didn't even manage to bag a game. It begs the question as to why some of these youngsters were kept in oblivion until the very end till it became too late to make any sort of comeback.

The underlying problem can accentuate and compound further as well. CSK had a great chance to make amends by playing well at the auctions but everything lies at the core and if that's brittle, things are bound to eventually fall apart. By laying down a cistern of players well past their prime and hardly exposing the young crop of players by giving them the requisite opportunities, CSK will have to play their cards very closely and cannot afford to have a single negative streak while planning for the 2026 season. CSK did bounce back remarkably well after a rather poor 2022 season to win the title the following year. In 2018, after being away from the wilderness for 2 years they came stomping back to win the trophy. CSK is known for making strong comebacks and the past is a firm indicator of that. Thus hope is still there but tough decisions have to be taken and the fans must stop hero worshipping individual players and back the team as a wholesome unit to the hilt. It may take even a year or two to rebuild but the faith and unity must remain in order to see the CSK franchise restore and re-conquer hallowed glory in the IPL seasons that follow.

Cosmic Connections surrounding India's Champions Trophy 2025 victory

India's victory over New Zealand in the final of the Champions Trophy 2025 final has given the nation much to rejoice and cherish. It was a fantastic win and India's brand of white ball cricket has certainly been top notch and of the highest order. Their fantastic streak in the white ball game just keeps extending from strength to strength. They have now won 2 major championships within a span of 9 months, first with the marvellous victory in the T20 World Cup 2024 in June 2024 which came after a period of 11 years without a global trophy followed by this scintillating win in the Champions Trophy 2025 in March 2025. The only blemish was the unfortunate defeat at the hands of Australia in the home ODI World Cup of 2023. Taking all these events in unison, India has lost just one match across these 3 editions comprising of ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy.

India also becomes the first side to win the Champions Trophy 3 times. They also attained a unique record by winning all their matches in this edition despite losing the toss every single time which is indeed quite a rare feat. The Indian men's team now has a tally of 7 global ICC cricket tournament victories with 3 CTs, 2 ODI WCs and 2 T20 WCs to boot. Rohit Sharma has now successfully led India to 2 major titles only being behind MS Dhoni who won India 3 titles by claiming a T20 WC, ODI WC and a CT. The other captains to have led India to world titles include Kapil Dev who won India's inaugural ODI World Cup 1983 and Saurav Ganguly who helped India win the Champions Trophy in a shared encounter with Sri Lanka in 2002.

This Champions Trophy victory however didn't come in to be so easy. There were lot of hoodoo's and strange incidents playing against India while taking the field for the final. India's final record in global events especially when held on a Sunday hasn't been a rosy picture with many painful defeats coming on this day. Normally across history, finals of any global sporting event gets played on a weekend to attract maximum crowd base and viewership. In the initial days when the ODI World Cup started, most of the finals were played on a Saturday but however off late majority of the final clashes invariably tend to take place on a Sunday. Let's briefly look at India's record in all the major finals played across limited overs internationals spanning the ODI World Cup, Champions Trophy and T20 World Cup.

1) Saturday - 25th June 1983 - ODI WC - India won by 38 runs against West Indies
2) Sunday - 15th Oct 2000 - CT - India lost by 4 wickets against New Zealand
3) Monday - 30th Sep 2002 - CT - India won but shared the trophy with Sri Lanka due to wash out
4) Sunday - 23rd Mar 2003 - ODI WC - India lost by 134 runs against Australia
5) Monday - 24th Sep 2007 - T20 WC - India won by 5 runs against Pakistan
6) Saturday - 2nd Apr 2011 - ODI WC - India won by 6 wickets against Sri Lanka
7) Sunday - 23rd Jun 2013 - CT - India won by 5 runs against England
8) Sunday - 6th Apr 2014 - T20 WC - India lost by 6 wickets against Sri Lanka
9) Sunday - 18th Jun 2017 - CT - India lost by 180 runs against Pakistan
10) Sunday - 19th Nov 2023 - ODI WC - India lost by 6 wickets against Australia
11) Saturday - 29th Jun 2024 - T20 WC - India won by 7 runs against South Africa
12) Sunday - 9th Mar 2025 - CT - India won by 4 wickets against New Zealand

Thus looking at the list above, India have won all 3 events when it took place on a Saturday. They also won 2 trophies when it was played on a Monday. The CT 2002 was scheduled initially on a Sunday but the match got rained off and moved to Monday which again resulted in the match being washed off by rain enabling India to share the trophy with tournament hosts Sri Lanka. The reason why the inaugural T20 WC 2007 final was held on Monday was because it was a public holiday on account of 'Heritage day' in South Africa deeming the final to be played on a Monday. Any day other than a weekend hosting a final is something one will not see often and is indeed quite a rare occasion. When it came to Sundays, out of 7 Sundays in which India has participated in finals, they have lost 5 and going in to the match against New Zealand they were 1-5 on the descendancy during finals held on Sunday. Some of the most damning defeats also have come on Sunday including a defeat almost a quarter century ago to New Zealand in this very own Champions Trophy in 2000. Also both India's final defeats in ODI WC came against Australia and behold both being Sundays. The last Champions Trophy final in 2017 also saw India getting a pasting by Pakistan by being served a royal thrashing. The only Sunday win which India enjoyed was on a rain affected final match on a late London evening in CT 2013 when the original 50 over match got rescheduled to 20 overs where India just about managed to pip England despite being on the back foot for most of the match. Thus Sundays in general haven't been to India's calling when it comes to major tournament finals.

When it comes to numbers, this happened to be the third straight global cricketing event which happened to be played on a date involving 9 in some way. 19th Nov 2023 was the final date of ODI WC 2023 with 29th June 2024 being the final date of T20 WC 2024 and the current Champions Trophy final was held on 9th March 2025. India had lost the ODI WC final in 2023 played on a Sunday whereas they won the T20 WC final played on a Saturday. Coming to the CT final of 2025, it was again played on a Sunday somewhat being stacked against India. In numerology, the normal tendency is to add up the digits to make it all within the ambit of 9 numbers. The previous CT final was held on 18th June 2017 where the date equated is 9 (1+8) and India got a hammering. This particular CT final was also on 9th March 2025 equating to 9 thus giving the jitters a wee bit. 

Coming to months, June has been pretty favourable for India with them winning an ODI World Cup, Champions Trophy and a T20 World Cup in this particular period. They however lost the CT final of 2017 in June. September is a month where India won both their finals viz the CT 2002 (shared) and T20 WC 2007. 2 titles have come in March (CT 2025) & April (ODI WC 2011) though both these months have also witnessed the team losing a final viz ODI WC 2003 in March & T20 WC 2014 in April. India have however only lost finals when played in October and November. Hence it's 3/4 in June, 2/2 in September, 1/2 in March, 1/2 in April, 0/1 in October and 0/1 in November. With respect to the dates within the months, India has been super successful in the 3rd part of the month ranging from dates 21st to 30th with 5 of their titles coming in dates of 23 (23rd Jun 2013 CT), 24 (24th Sep 2007 T20 WC), 25 (25th Jun 1983 ODI WC), 29 (29th Jun 2024 T20 WC) and 30 (30th Sep 2002 CT). The only one blemish was another 23 with India losing the ODI WC final on 23rd March 2003. In the first 10 days of the month, the success has been reasonable with India winning 2 titles (2nd Apr 2011 ODI WC and 9th Mar 2025 CT) but also losing 1 final (6th Apr 2014 T20 WC). The days between 11th to 20th has been outright worst for India as they have lost all 3 finals played during this time (15th Oct 2000 CT, 18th Jun 2017 CT and 19th Nov 2023 ODI WC). In terms of numerology dates, #2 has been very good for India with 2 of the most memorable triumphs coming on these dates (2nd Apr 2011 ODI WC and 29th Jun 2024 T20 WC). The other 5 titles have come on #3,5,6,7,9. In terms of losses, 2 of them have come on #6 date (15th Oct 2000 CT and 6th Apr 2014 T20 WC) while others have been spread across dates of #1,5,9. 

Another cosmic connection at play happens to be the colour of the jersey. Ever since coloured clothing became a thing with Limited Overs Internationals beginning from the 1992 ODI World Cup onwards, India have largely sported a predominant colour of "Blue". Each of the planets ruling a day are generally associated with a colour and it might be strange but history has witnessed that specific colours worn on select days have had quite a say. Listing below the days which are ruled by the planets and the  associated colour

Sunday - Sun - Orange (Also can be copper color which is orangish red or reddish brown)
Monday - Moon - White (Generally said to be Milky White)
Tuesday - Mars - Red (Associated with Blood Red colour)
Wednesday - Mercury - Green (Shades of Green both light and dark)
Thursday - Jupiter - Yellow (Any type of Yellow or even Gold colour)
Friday - Venus - White/Blue (More of Curdish White and lighter shade of Blue)
Saturday - Saturn - Black (Pitch dark black or a semblance of a dark blue colour)

Generally, you would see that Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday ruled by Sun, Mars and Jupiter get along well with one another. Australia have been very successful in cricketing finals held on Sunday with the Yellow colour proving to be very prominent. Even the West Indies who normally wear shades of Red/Maroon have seemingly been reasonably successful in finals when held on Sunday. The colours of Wednesday, Friday and Saturday ruled by Mercury, Venus & Saturn are said to be more in sync with each other. Monday ruled by Moon tends to be quite neutral and gets along with both pairs in equal elan. There is a saying that Moon has no enemies. In the second set, Venus ruling Friday & Saturn ruling Saturday are said to be hardcore enemies with Sun who rules the day of Sunday but however this exception does not hold true for Mercury which rules Wednesday. Hence Green colour is equally prominent for both Saturdays and Sundays with the former perhaps being a touch more favourable. In fact South Africa who have won 4 Rugby World Cups have won all their 4 finals when played on a Saturday. They however lost the T20 WC final played against India on a Saturday. 

For India who sports significantly the blue colour, Saturdays have been very successful with them winning all their 3 big ticket final encounters. Even the odd Monday has proved lucky. However Sunday ruled by Sun hasn't really been to India's favour with Venus & Sun seeing bitter enmity. The one thing which worked excessively to India's favour in the CT final of 2025 is that their opponent New Zealand were donning black attire which again is very unfavourable on a Sunday with the enmity of Saturn & Sun being equally or more worse than between Venus & Sun. It would be very interesting to note that when the Kiwis toppled India in the CT final on a Sunday 25 years back in 2000, they were not wearing cardinal black and in fact had streaks of Green & Grey which tilted the tide in their favour. It must also be said that New Zealand's record has been pathetic on all the finals when they have gone with full black. They lost the 2015 ODI WC to Australia badly, had a massive heartbreak by losing to England in the ODI WC of 2019 on boundary count. This continued in the 2021 T20 WC as well when they lost the final to Australia in the UAE. Ironically, the Kiwis only major white ball cricketing triumph came when they were not in full black in CT 2000. The All Blacks are a successful Rugby side and all their 3 victories so far came when they played the final on a Saturday. Their 2 defeats in finals came to South Africa who wear green which was also on a Saturday. Generally it is seen that when a team wears a colour which rules that day plays against a team where the colour also happens to be favourable, the former tends to lose because of the colour being overbearing and working against it.

In this particular final of CT 2025, one advantage which India had was that New Zealand too wore a colour of Black which is completely inimical on the day of Sunday which played to India's advantage unlike the 2000 Champions Trophy final. It is been advised that Black colour especially has an extremely negative effect on Sunday. India obviously had the mastery of their squad working tricks on the Kiwis but no denying that this jersey colour effect also played against them. One other interesting coincidence to note is that in the T20 WC final 2024, the top scorer and Man of the Match was Virat Kohli for scoring 76 and voila the same thing repeated in the CT Final 2025 where the top scorer and player of the match was Rohit Sharma who also garnered the same score of 76 with the bat. 

Thus when you look at the overall scheme of things, these tend to be interesting takeaways. Whatever said and done, the skill sets, temperament and will to win is what reigns supreme and these things tend to take a backseat when the former tends to be paramount. However there is no refuting the fact that in sport, luck also does have an element and these superstitions and cosmic energies have proved to be of consequence at least as per the patterns at play and what history has suggested in the past.