 "Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh has been benched for India's opening game of the ICC Champions Trophy along with Varun Chakravarthy, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar. AP")
Team India decided to stick with Harshit Rana over Arshdeep Singh for their opening game of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy against Bangladesh on Thursday, with mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy also among those sitting out. Senior pacer Mohammed Shami, meanwhile, returns to the XI after missing the third ODI against England, and makes his first appearance in an ICC event since the 2023 ICC World Cup final against Australia.
LIVE | India vs Bangladesh, ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Group A match in Dubai
Bangladesh, meanwhile, won the toss, and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto opted to bat at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with Tanzim Hasan Sakib getting picked ahead of Nahid Rana.
Team India begin their quest for a third Champions Trophy title, which will make them the most successful team in the tournament’s history, against Bangladesh on Thursday. After the clash against the Bangla Tigers, India face arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday before concluding their group stage campaign against New Zealand on 2 March.
Champions Trophy 2025: News | Schedule | Results | Points Table
The only time the Men in Blue faced the Bangla Tigers at the ‘Mini World Cup’ was in the semi-finals of the 2017 edition, in which Rohit Sharma (123 not out) and Virat Kohli (96 not out) helped the Indians chase down a target of 265 with nine wickets and nearly 10 overs to spare.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe ninth edition of the Champions Trophy got underway on Wednesday with New Zealand defeating hosts and defending champions Pakistan by 60 runs at Karachi’s National Stadium.
Though Pakistan are hosting an ICC event for the first time in 29 years, India are playing all of their games in Dubai after the BCCI refused to send the Men in Blue to their neighbouring country.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman