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Team India will begin their 2025 ICC Champions Trophy campaign on Thursday, February 20, with a match against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant could not make it to India's playing XI for the clash.
The team management, as confirmed by head coach Gautam Gambhir ahead of the tournament, have gone with KL Rahul as their first-choice wicketkeeper in ODIs, forcing Pant to remain on the sidelines. Rahul enjoyed a stellar run in the role during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, scoring 452 runs in 10 innings at a wonderful average of 75.33 and a strike rate of 90.76 while batting at number five.
After such an impressive show in a tricky role, Rahul pipped Rishabh Pant in the wicketkeeper race to be the incumbent in the playing XI for the Champions Trophy. As a result, Rishabh will have to wait for his turn, given the fierce competition for the spots in the team.
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"We are ready for any challenge"- India captain Rohit Sharma after toss of IND vs BAN Champions Trophy 2025 clash
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and opted to bat first in the contest on Thursday. Speaking after losing the toss, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said (via Cricbuzz):
"I would have fielded first. We have played a few years back here so we felt ball comes on better under lights. All looking good. Everyone is fit and fine to go. Let's hope we start well.
"There is no looking back, every game become important in this tournament. From the last ODI that we played, Varun Chakravarthy misses out. Ravindra Jadeja comes in for him. Arshdeep Singh makes way for (Mohammad) Shami."
Here are the playing XIs of both teams for the Champions Trophy 2025 match -
India playing XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul (WK), Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Harshit Rana.
Bangladesh playing XI: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.
Do you think both teams made the right calls regarding their playing XIs? Let us know your views in the comments section.
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