DUBAI: Towhid Hridoy’s fighting century and Jaker Ali’s resilient half-century helped Bangladesh recover from an early collapse to post 229-run target against India in their opening match of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
Muhammad Shami took five wickets to become the joint second-quickest bowler to achieve 200 wickets in 104 ODI’s sharing with Pakistan’s Saqlain Mushtaq. Only Mitchell Starc of Australia has achieved this milestone in 102 matches.
One of the frontrunners for the 2025 Champions Trophy, India’s bowlers showcased their dominance from the outset, leaving Bangladesh reeling at 39 for 5 within the first ten overs.
Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana struck early, each claiming a wicket in the opening two overs before Shami added another to his tally.
The early onslaught left Bangladesh in dire straits. Axar Patel nearly secured a hat-trick, but a dropped catch by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma in the slips thwarted his efforts.
Despite the rocky start, Towhid Hridoy and Jaker Ali forged a commendable partnership of 154 off 206 balls, helping their team steady the ship after the tumultuous first 20 overs in this crucial ICC Champions Trophy encounter.
Towhid Hridoy achieved his first ODI century off 114 balls, featuring six boundaries and two sixes.
Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat first.
India are playing their matches in the 50-over tournament in the United Arab Emirates after refusing to tour hosts Pakistan over political tensions.
Bangladesh are underdogs in Group A, which also includes Pakistan and New Zealand.
Bangladesh named three seamers, led by young pace sensation Nahid Rana, and two spinners.
India, captained by Rohit Sharma, made two changes from their last ODI win against England in a 3-0 sweep last week.
Pace bowler Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja come in for Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy.
New Zealand beat Pakistan by 60 runs in Karachi on Wednesday to open the tournament.
Bangladesh Playing XI
Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.
India Playing XI
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.
Umpires: Adrian Holdstock (RSA), Paul Reiffel (AUS)
TV Umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG)
Match Referee: David Boon (AUS)
