"Do they actually have it in them to beat us?" - Aakash Chopra on Bangladesh ahead of 2025 Champions Trophy clash vs India

Former India player Aakash Chopra has urged the Men in Blue to bat first in their 2025 Champions Trophy Group A clash against Bangladesh. He opined that the Bangla Tigers don't have the batting might to beat India and that setting a target might serve Rohit Sharma and company's long-term objective.

India will square off against Bangladesh in their 2025 Champions Trophy opener in Dubai on Thursday, February 20. It will be the tournament's second game, with New Zealand having thrashed Pakistan by 60 runs in the first match in Karachi a day earlier.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned that India should opt to bat first if Rohit wins the toss.

"I am convinced that India should bat second in every single game barring this one. You might say why am I doing this course correction as I was saying something else earlier. Bangladesh - do they actually have it in them to beat us? The story starts from there," he said (7:00).

Chopra noted that Bangladesh might get bowled out for a below-par score if they bat first and the Indian batters might not be challenged enough.

"Firstly, their batting is looking quite weak to me. I am not saying that they can't score runs but they are looking very weak. If we get them to bat first, they will get all out for 225. Your game plan should probably be to bat second but will it work out if they get all out for 225? So India might bat first if they win the toss in this match. Bat first and score 325 runs," he observed.

Aakash Chopra pointed out that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played one substantial knock apiece in the recent ODI series against England and would want more runs under their belt. While observing that Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer would want to continue their run-scoring spree, he added that batting first would allow KL Rahul to spend more time at the crease.

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"I don't feel they can" - Aakash Chopra on whether Bangladesh can pose a threat to India in 2025 Champions Trophy clash

Litton Das is among the prominent players not part of Bangladesh's 2025 Champions Trophy squad. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that Bangladesh are unlikely to pose a threat to India in their 2025 Champions Trophy clash, especially with their batting.

"Can Bangladesh pose a threat to us? I am trying to figure out how they could do that with their batting, but I don't feel they can. They have (Towhid) Hridoy, (Najmul Hossain) Shanto and Mahmudullah. They don't have that much might," he said (8:20).

However, the former India opener acknowledged that the Bangladesh seamers could strike a few early blows.

"I don't see might in their spin bowling but see it in their fast bowling, whether it's Nahid Rana, Mustafizur Rahman or Taskin Ahmed. They can reduce you to 25/2 or 40/2. After that, India will eventually start dominating but the new-ball threat can come from Bangladesh," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra reckoned that India would undoubtedly win their 2025 Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh. He urged the Men in Blue to register a big win to have a net run rate advantage before their crunch Group A games against Pakistan and New Zealand.