New Delhi: India has fielded only two frontline pacers in its opening Champions Trophy 2025 match against Bangladesh in Dubai Thursady.
Mohammed Shami, back after an injury lay-off, and Harshit Rana, who recently made his debut in all formats of the game, hve been included in the playing XI.
Bangladesh won the toss and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto elected to bat first on a freshly prepared pitch for Thursday’s game at the Dubai International Stadium.
For spin, India chose to rely on the tried-and-tested combination of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav with Axar Patel’s inclusion having more to do with his batting prowess in the middle order.
Both Jadeja and Patel’s place was more or less settled during the last ODI series against England at home. It was left to the team management to choose between Kuldeep or Varun Chakravarthy, who earned a late call to the squad.
At the pre-match press conference Wednesday, skipper Sharma had defended the inclusion of so many spinners in the squad saying they are more than only spinners, and will provide several bowling options.
“Those three guys – Ravindra Jadeja, Washy (Sundar) and Axar (Patel) can bat and bowl,” he said. “When other teams have pace all-rounders, we say having five-six bowling options is a good thing. But we are working with strengths. The three of them give a different dimension to the team, add a lot and give us a lot of depth. That is why we wanted players who have two skills, rather than one skill,” Sharma had said.
Playing XI
India
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Harshit Rana
Bangladesh
Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto (capatin), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman
(Edited by Sudha V)