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Shubman Gill’s well-paced 101 and Mohammed Shami’s five-wicket haul led India to a crucial win in their 2025 Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh, in what was a gripping, rusty contest.
Shubman Gill was at his sublime best even on a slow track in Dubai. (AP Photo)
Opener and vice-captain Shubman Gill’s composed century and Mohammed Shami’s five-wicket haul led India to a comfortable six-wicket win in their 2025 Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh in Dubai, in a chaotic game, full of dropped catches and missed chances.
India only had 229 runs to chase but the draw track got tacky and quite slow in the second innings, testing India’s batters skills in forcing the pace. Perhaps realizing the nature of the track, skipper Rohit Sharma set the foundation with his aggressive 36-ball 41 in the powerplay.
Though he played a poor drive to get out against Taskin Ahmed at the stroke of the second powerplay, leaving India at 69/1, it made things much easier for those to follow. It showed how Virat Kohli could take his time, despite finding it difficult to time the ball and even rotate the strike.
In the 23rd over, he tried going too hard after leg-spinner Rishad Hossain and failed to time the cut, which ended in an easy catch at point. It was another wicket to another leg-spinner’s away-turning ball but the pitch did play a big role in this case, as Shreyas Iyer (15) and Axar Patel (8) also got out trying to shift the momentum after decent starts.
KL Rahul would have had the same fate if not for Jaker Ali returning India the favor of his dropped catch in the previous innings when the Indian number five batter was at just nine runs. After that, he went on his vintage, 2023 World Cup-esque cruise mode to score 41 (47).
It was the perfect knock for the moment, as it didn’t step on Gill’s shoes and stop his serene display of monk-like composure at the other end. There were multiple run-out chances in the partnership but the 25-year-old hardly looked bothered, finding time for nine boundaries and two sixes.
The second of those sixes a six off Tanzim Hasan Sakib on the third ball of the 47th over which finished the game.
In the first innings, Shami started off India’s campaign on the right foot by getting Soumya Sarkar to edge one behind to wicketkeeper KL Rahul on the last ball of the first over for a duck and allaying some concerns about Jasprit Bumrah’s absence. Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto came on and went back without troubling the scorers, spooning his second ball to Kohli to cover off Harshit Rana.
Ducks and Rahul’s catches were to be the feature of the innings as Rohit Sharma started utilizing his three spinners from the ninth over, with Axar Patel coming on. His second ball got a fine edge off the other opener, Tanzid Hasan’s bat which nobody seemed to have heard, except Rahul, the catcher, and the umpire, who raised his finger immediately. Hasan walked and the decision was validated in the replays.
The next ball, he made one turn — signs for the things to come — away from Mushfiqur Rahim for another catch for Rahul and the third duck of the innings. Rohit tightened the field further for the hat-trick ball but ended up dropping the easiest of catches to deny him the chance to be the first Indian with the record in the Champions Trophy and give Ali a reprieve.
Bangladesh were at 35/5 but as the ball started to turn, so did their luck.
Towhid Hridoy got dropped in the 20s off by Kuldeep Yadav, with Hardik Pandya the culprit this time. He and Jaker put up 154 runs together in a slow, testing partnership before Ali finally gave up his wicket for 68 (114).
If not Patel’s record, Jaker helped Shami and Kohli achieve 200 wickets and 156th ODI catch (the joint-best for India), respectively. Then, just like they started, Shami and Harshit helped India end well with regular wickets at the death. Shami reached his five-wicket haul on his Champions Trophy debut in the 49th over.
Hridoy kept at it from the other end, prodding singles and finding the occasional boundary, all while fighting serious cramps and visible fatigue every few minutes. He got to his 118-ball 100 in the final over but got out on the fourth ball, leaving Bangladesh at 228/10.
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
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