- IND vs BAN: On Thursday, February 20, the Indian team will play its first match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 against Bangladesh, which will be witnessed by the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. After whitewashing England in the ODI series, Rohit Sharma and company will play against Bangladesh…
On Thursday, February 20, the Indian team will play its first match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 against Bangladesh, which will be witnessed by the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. After sweeping England in the ODI series, Rohit Sharma and company would like to start their campaign with a win by crushing Bangladesh. But before that, the biggest challenge for the Team India management will be to select the playing XI. So let’s know what could be India’s possible playing XI for the IND vs BAN match.
This could be the opening pair
The Indian team can go with its regular opening pair against Bangladesh. There is a possibility that captain Rohit Sharma will come to open the innings. He had shown signs of returning to form by scoring a stormy century against England. 119 runs came off his bat in the second ODI of the series played in Cuttack. Young batsman Shubman Gill will come on the field to support Rohit Sharma.
After the flop performance of Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, he made a comeback with a bang and created havoc with the bat in the England ODI series. He was the highest scorer of the series scoring 259 runs in three matches at an average of 86.33. In the IND vs BAN match, the pair Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will try to give India a good start by playing explosive innings.
These players will shine in the middle-order
Virat Kohli will come to bat at number three in the IND vs BAN match. He has returned to form by scoring a fiery half-century in his last match. He would like to give his best performance against Bangladesh as well. Experienced batsman Shreyas Iyer will come at number four.
His recent performance has been amazing. After making a splash in domestic cricket, he was also impressive in the ODI series. Team India management may have to brainstorm for the number five position. India has the option of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul for wicketkeeper-batsman. Selecting one of these two players is not going to be easy at all for the team. However, KL Rahul is more likely to be included in the playing eleven.
These all-rounders may get a chance
Hardik Pandya, Akshar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja may get a chance as all-rounders in Team India against Bangladesh. In the IND vs BAN match, these three players will be expected to bowl well along with strong batting. These players will try to strengthen the batting order of the team by showing their batting prowess in the lower order. Hardik Pandya will be seen bowling fast, while Ravindra Jadeja and Akshar Patel will be the spin bowling options for the team.
These players will enter the bowling department!
Finally, if we talk about the bowling order of Team India, then Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Arshdeep Singh can be selected. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, India’s bowling unit will be under pressure to perform at its best. Against Bangladesh ( IND vs BAN ), Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh will handle the responsibility of fast bowling along with Hardik Pandya. While Kuldeep Yadav, Akshar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja will do spin bowling.
India’s probable playing XI could be like this:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh.