Arshdeep Singh Over Harshit Rana, No Rishabh Pant? India's Likely Playing XI For Champions Trophy 2025 Match Against Bangladesh
Team India will open its campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on Thursday, February 20, against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Rohit Sharma-led Indian men’s cricket team will open its campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on Thursday, February 20, against Bangladesh in the match, which is scheduled to take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India will start as the favourites to win the Group A match against the Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side, which is without the services of legendary all-rounder and former captain Shakib Al Hasan and wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das in the Champions Trophy 2025.
India is also missing the services of ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah after he was ruled out of the eight-team tournament on February 11 due to a lower back injury. Despite his absence, India has picked a well-balanced bowling attack, and it will be interesting to see who out of Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana partners Mohammed Shami in the pace department. Indian selectors have included five spinners in the Champions Trophy 2025 squad, and all of them are in contention to feature in the playing XI.
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Ravindra Jadeja, due to his experience and recent form with the ball, is likely to get preference along with Axar Patel, who impressed with his batting in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against England. But it will be a tough fight between Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Varun Chakaravarthy for the specialist spinner’s role.
In the batting, captain Rohit is all set to open the innings with vice-captain Shubman Gill, and the duo will be followed by Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer. Gill scored 112 runs in his last 50-over match for the Indian team against England, whereas Kohli hammered 52 runs.
KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are two wicketkeeper-batters picked for the Champions Trophy, and Rahul is likely to get preference over the left-handed Pant for the stumper’s role. Rahul scored more than 500 runs for India in the ODI World Cup 2023, and the Indian team management and fans will have expectations of similar performance from him once again. Hardik Pandya, because of his ability to win the match with both bat and ball, is a definite starter and will be seen batting in the No. 6 position.
India’s likely playing XI for the Champions Trophy 2025 match against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav.
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