Dubai, Feb 19 With the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy now underway, tournament favourites India will begin their Group A campaign against Bangladesh under overcast skies at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
With just two teams each from both groups set to enter the semi-finals, every group stage game is critical for the Rohit Sharma-led side to win and strengthen their chances of winning the title they last held in 2013.
India come on the back of good momentum they got in all aspects of the game while registering a 3-0 ODI series win over England at home. Bangladesh, on the other hand, come as an unfancied side, but have the arsenal in fast bowlers Nahid Rana and Taskin Ahmed to trouble the Indian batters.
More than the two teams, the pitch in Dubai will be of big interest for fans all over the world. The stadium has hosted a big chunk of cricket games, starting from last year’s Women’s T20 World Cup to Men’s U19 Asia Cup and the ILT20, which means the pitches could be slow in nature.
But if ground reports from UAE are to be believed, there are two fresh pitches in Dubai which could be used, meaning that it could offer assistance to pacers early on, before aiding spinners in the middle overs. If that happens, then India’s combination is set for a stern test, especially with them picking five spinners and four fast-bowling options, including Hardik Pandya.
Nevertheless, if India gets going in winning ways against Bangladesh, then it augurs really well for its upcoming clashes against Pakistan and New Zealand. Dubai hasn’t given India the best of memories in ICC events, but it could all change for the better for Rohit & Co from Thursday.
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.
On-field umpires: Adrian Holdstock and Paul Reiffel
TV umpire: Richard Illingworth
Fourth umpire: Michael Gough
Match Referee: David Boon
Time: The match is scheduled to begin at 2:30pm IST.
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