Daijiworld Media Network - Dubai
Dubai, Feb 19: The highly anticipated 2025 ICC Champions Trophy is now underway, and India, one of the tournament favourites, will open their Group A campaign against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
With only two teams advancing from each group to the semi-finals, every group-stage match is vital for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian side to build momentum and secure a spot in the knockout stages. India, who last won the Champions Trophy in 2013, enter the tournament after a dominant 3-0 ODI series sweep over England.
Bangladesh, though considered underdogs, will pose a challenge with their pace attack, featuring fast bowlers Nahid Rana and Taskin Ahmed, who are capable of troubling India's top-order batsmen.
While the teams are crucial to the contest, much of the focus will also be on the Dubai pitch. The stadium has hosted several major events recently, including the Women's T20 World Cup, the Men’s U19 Asia Cup, and the ILT20, leading to the possibility of slower pitches. However, reports suggest that there are fresh pitches available that could offer early assistance to pacers before favouring spinners in the middle overs. This could put India’s squad, featuring five spinners and four fast-bowling options, to the test.
A strong start against Bangladesh would boost India’s confidence ahead of their upcoming fixtures against Pakistan and New Zealand. Dubai has not been kind to India in past ICC events, but Thursday’s match offers a chance for a turnaround.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, and Varun Chakravarthy.
Bangladesh: Nazmul Hossain Shanto (c), Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, MD Mahmud Ullah, Jaker Ali Anik, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Parvez Hossain Emon, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nahid Rana.
Match Details:
On-field umpires: Adrian Holdstock and Paul Reiffel
TV umpire: Richard Illingworth
Fourth umpire: Michael Gough
Match Referee: David Boon
Time: The match will begin at 2:30pm IST
Where to watch: The match will be broadcast on Star Sports Network and livestreamed on JioHotstar.