Image: India begin their 2025 ICC Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh / © Moneycontrol
For the opening match of India’s Champions Trophy 2025 campaign, Rohit Sharma’s side faced Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on February 20. Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first, a decision Rohit mentioned he would have preferred as well, considering the conditions under lights favor chasing.
India missed out on Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy, while Bangladesh banked on their all-round strength. The match holds significant importance as both teams aim for a strong start in the tournament. Meanwhile, the atmosphere around the game has been lively, with fans performing special rituals like a “Havan” in Varanasi for Team India’s success, highlighting the excitement around this marquee tournament.
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.
Bangladesh Playing XI: Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.