🏏Champions Trophy 2025: Bangladesh vs India, 2nd Match, Group A 🏏

🏏Champions Trophy 2025: Bangladesh vs India, 2nd Match, Group A 🏏

"Your top-three, four, five batters need to get that big score for you to post a big score eventually." Rohit Sharma believes that the key to winning the Champions Trophy is having one of the top-four batters score big in each match. "I mean that's the key to us to have success in this format," the India skipper said. India open their campaign in the eight-team elite competition with a game against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday (February 20).

Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, besides Rohit himself comprise the top-four with all of them showing good form in recent times. Openers Rohit and Gill smashed centuries recently, Kohli returned to form with a half-century in the last ODI (against England) in Nagpur and Iyer has hit the ground running since his recent return to the 50-overs squad.

"Your top-three, four, five batters need to get that big score for you to post a big score eventually. So, I think our top-four batters are quite experienced. And we know that once they are set, they like to get those big runs.

We've seen it as well when we played that ODI World Cup (in 2023), there were only a few hundreds that we scored, but we went on to score quite a few times, 350-plus scores, or 330 scores like that," Rohit said recalling India's near successful campaign in the ODI World Cup.

"That will be our focus. We will not be looking at the individual milestones and stuff like that. Whoever the two batters are in there; they have to do the job. And the guy who goes in after that has a job to do as well. So, if seven, eight of us think like that, we will end up getting the score that we are looking for. It's just about everyone contributing to the cause," Rohit analysed.

Rohit is happy that Mohammed Shami is back in the squad. "All we wanted with Shami was to get him back to wearing that India colours more than anything else. Whether he gets wickets or not that was completely immaterial for us at that point.

We wanted him to get back to playing for India. And he's done that," the skipper said. Shami came back into international cricket recently after a long gap.

In the absence of injury-hit Jasprit Bumrah, Shami becomes a crucial cog in the Indian attack. He was the most successful bowler (24 scalps) in the 2023 World Cup - four more than Bumrah despite playing four fewer games. Incidentally, that was his last international competition before his recent comeback.

"When you talk about a bowler like Shami who's done the job over the years so many times for us, it's just about getting back to their rhythm and hopefully he can find some rhythm early on in this tournament and help the team."

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Format for predictions

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-Winning Team -- 5 points -- Name

-Man of the Match -- 15 --

-Hit the most 4s-- 10 Points -

-Hit the most 6s -10 points --

-Taking the majority of wickets --10 --

-Making the most runs --- 10 points --

Just a couple of days ago, the city experienced rain, with the weather remaining gloomy throughout Tuesday (February 18). While the chances of another rain-induced disruption are remote, the weather may pose a challenge for the Indian team, which has brought five spinners for their Champions Trophy campaign, set to begin with a match against Bangladesh on Thursday (February 20). The conditions could potentially disrupt India's plans.

For the record, the forecast for the next 24 hours is not unfavorable, but cloudy conditions-though rare here-cannot be ruled out. In this context, the team's composition may become a concern, especially in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, widely regarded as the best bowler in the world.

That said, one cannot overlook Rohit Sharma's cricketing acumen. He has a knack for getting team combinations right, as seen in the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 T20 World Cup. He led India to the 2024 title with four spinners in the squad for the US and the West Indies.

The inclusion of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Varun Chakaravarthy may prove beneficial at some stage, particularly since India will play all their games at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS), where gloomy and wet conditions are unlikely to persist for long.

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Team News:

India

Rohit Sharma is likely to field three left arm spinners and despite a promising outing against England for Harshit Rana, veteran Mohammed Shami is likely to get the nod to start and build his rhythm right for the tournament.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

Bangladesh

Should conditions favour fast bowling, Bangladesh will not be caught out cold given they're experiencing a sudden and welcome spurt in fast bowling options. Tearaway quick Nahid Rana will in the spotlight against the famed Indian top-order.

Probable XI: Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali / Towhid Hridoy, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Tanzim Sakib/ Mustafizur Rahman

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The Dubai International Cricket Stadium is known for its unique playing conditions, shaped by its massive concrete structure that creates a closed environment. This factor significantly influences how the pitch behaves, making it different from the other UAE venues. Former India cricketer Robin Singh, who has experience coaching in the UAE, told The Indian Express that the nature of the pitch in Dubai varies depending on the strip being used.

What to expect: Again, some clouds expected to roll over on match day but the possibility of rain is fairly low. As ever, teams will prefer to chase.

One factor that could influence matches-beyond team selection-is Dubai's tendency to favor teams batting second. During the 2021 T20 World Cup, 12 out of 13 matches in Dubai were won by the chasing side, including the semifinals (Australia vs. Pakistan) and final (Australia vs. New Zealand). That edition of the World Cup was heavily toss-dependent.

Some experts believe conditions at DICS could aid spinners. "As summer approaches and temperatures soar, Dubai's conditions may become more spin-friendly. The drier the climate, the more assistance spinners get.

In the first half of the ILT20, pacers had the upper hand, but as the tournament progressed, spin played a bigger role," said Hemang Badani, head coach of the Dubai Capitals, who recently won the ILT20 title.

Even Bangladesh, despite its strong pace-bowling resources, is expected to field three spinners-Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, and Nasum Ahmed. Skipper Nazmul Hossain Shanto did not confirm this outright but hinted at the possibility. "No, no, I am not relying only on our pace attack, to be honest.

Earlier, we didn't have many fast bowlers, but now we do. We have always had spinners, so now we have a good balance between pace and spin. I wouldn't be surprised if we play two or three spinners," Shanto said when asked about his team's bowling strategy.

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Did you know?

- India have played six ODIs in Dubai - all in Asia Cup 2018 - winning five with one ending in a tie.

- India have been phenomenal in the ODI format in the last 15 years and have lost just three of 35 games in group stages across six tournaments.

- The last time Bangladesh featured in an ICC event (ODI or T20I) without Shakib Al Hasan was the Champions Trophy of 2004.

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What they said:

"There will be times where you will miss certain players, but I think there is enough quality, enough depth, enough experience in the team for us to come here quite confident and be confident about what we want to do here." - Rohit Sharma on the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.

"Last year, when we played India in Bangladesh, we have some good memories from then. But that is past, I think if we play well tomorrow and execute our plan, we will have a good match tomorrow." - Najmul Hossain Shanto is not overawed by the quality of the opposition.

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Weather forecast

The India vs. Bangladesh Champions trophy game is expected to proceed smoothly with dry and warm conditions predicted throughout the day. However, the cloud cover could help seamers early on and dew might play a role in the second innings.

India vs Bangladesh: Head-to-head ODI stats

Overall: India 33 wins, Bangladesh 8 wins, no results - 1

In Asia: India 30 wins, Bangladesh 8 wins

In ICC tournaments: India 4 wins, Bangladesh 1 win

In Champions Trophy: India 1 win, Bangladesh 0 win

Largest victory margins

India’s biggest win: 227 runs (Chattogram, 2022)

Bangladesh’s biggest win: 79 runs (Mirpur, 2015)

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India head into the tournament, having played just two ODI series six months apart. They suffered a 0-2 loss against Sri Lanka in July last year in Gautam Gambhir's first assignment as head coach in the format. However, they beat England earlier this month at home, securing a 3-0 clean sweep. On the other hand, Bangladesh have played nine ODI games since 2024, winning just three of them, including the 0-3 loss against West Indies in the last series and a 1-2 defeat against Afghanistan in the UAE.

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