Shubman Gill was more artisan than artist en route to his eighth ODI hundred after Mohammed Shami’s satisfying five-wicket haul, propelling India to a workmanlike six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their Champions Trophy opener in Dubai on Thursday. Gill’s unbeaten innings (101, 129b, 9×4. 2×6) had a mirror image in Bangladesh innings through Towhid Hridoy’s 100 (118b) that lifted them to 228 from the depths of 35 for five after batting by choice. But India negated various pressure points, including a sluggish surface, during their chase effectively through Gill’s knock full of substance, and ended up at 231 for four in 46.3 overs.

It’s also a nerve-settling victory for India ahead of their much-awaited clash against a more accomplished Pakistan at the same venue on February 23.

Gill, the world’s No. 1 ODI batter, played a massive role in it, dishing out a century which was more remarkable for its restraint than the customary flair.

It was also a reflection of his growing stature as India’s new generation batting star.

Chasing a modest 229, openers Rohit Sharma (41, 36b) and Gill gave India a rollicking start.

They added 69 runs in 9.5 overs before Rohit got out to pacer Taskin Ahmed while attempting a mighty heave, leaving India at 69 for 1.

The partnership was significant from a game point of view as the pitch slowed down considerably in the middle overs, making batting a tad tougher task.

Virat Kohli looked a bit over-watchful and circumspect before opening his account after facing 10 balls.

Though he grew comfortable, an uppish cut of leg-spinner Rishad Hossain ended his stay for 22.

The quick wickets of Axar Patel, who was once again promoted to No. 5, and Shreyas Iyer had India at a slightly worrying 144 for four.

But KL Rahul, who was dropped on nine by Jaker Ali off Taskin, ensured that there were no further hiccups and played a resolute unbeaten innings of 41 off 47 balls.

Gill and Rahul added 87 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket alliance to carry their side home.

Earlier, a cramping Hridoy, who made a courageous maiden ODI hundred and an equally gutsy Ali (68, 114b, 4×4) added 154 for a doughty sixth-wicket stand to give some respectability to Bangladesh total.

Shami impresses

India also found another shining shard of positive in Shami’s outing.

Shami also eased a lot of worries over the absence of injured pace ace Jasprit Bumrah with a five for 53 effort, and during the spell he also became the fastest Indian bowler to reach 200 ODI wickets.

Hridoy’s innings was an example of how to construct an innings yet maintain a healthy run-rate as he reached the milestone in just 114 balls.

He and Ali also showed excellent composure under pressure.

However, both the Bangladesh batters benefited from the largesse of Indian fielders, as Ali was dropped on zero off the first ball he faced off left-arm spinner Axar (2/43).

It also robbed Axar of a hat-trick after he dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim and Tanzid Hasan off successive deliveries.

Hridoy had the fortune when he was grassed by Hardik Pandya at mid-off off Kuldeep Yadav when he was on 23.

Rahul, who was sharp behind the stumps, floored a stumping chance to give the second reprieve for Hridoy.

But those moments of slip-ups should not take anything away from the way Indian bowlers, especially Shami, used the new ball on a rather slow but smooth pitch.

Shami, who had an average outing against England in T20I and ODI series recently at home, did not disappoint on the big stage and took the wicket of opener Soumya Sarkar in the first over itself.

He did not take much time to grab his second wicket when he ousted Mehdy Hasan Miraz – caught brilliantly by Shubman Gill in the slips.

The Bengal pacer later returned to break the determined stand between Hridoy and Ali, dismissing the latter.

He later took two more wickets, and now the 34-year-old is India’s highest wicket taker in ICC tournaments, going past former pacer Zaheer Khan (59).

Harshit Rana (3/31) gave good backing to his senior partner.

File image of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill.© BCCI

The Champions Trophy 2025 starts from Wednesday with a match between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi. The tournament holds special importance for Pakistan for it is the first major ICC event that Pakistan will host in a long time. The Champions Trophy 2025 is also important for Pakistan’s arch-rivals India. The team has been dealt quite a few big losses in the last few months. Hence, the Champions Trophy 2025 will be a big opportunity for the Rohit Sharma-led side to redeem itself.  

The tournament will be Rohit’s 17th appearance in an ICC event. Ahead of the Champions Trophy, the BCCI released a video of behind-the-scenes conversation as Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill talked about their ICC event exploits. “This is my 17th appearance. Nine T20 World Cups, three 50-overs World Cup. That’s 12; and two Champions Trophies. That’s 14. And two World Test Championships. Make that 17,” Rohit told Jadeja. 

Rohit’s first ICC event was the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa and has since featured in all editions since then – 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2024. Rohit has been part of India’s 50-overs World Cup campaigns in 2015, 2019 and 2023. He featured in 2013 and 2017 Champions Trophy. 

Then, Jadeja asked Shubman Gill about his ICC event list. “Me? I played the 2023 World Cup, was part of the 2024 one, and now this is my third. No wait, two WTC finals too. So that’s five,” Gill said. 

Jadeja replied: “I have 15-plus. You know how many Rohit has? He has just 9 T20 World Cups. Virat could have more.” 

Jadeja’s reply had Gill visibly in awe.  

For India’s batting talismans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the Champions Trophy 2025 will be a crucial one with question marks over their international career growing by the day. They have been magnificent servants of the game over the last decade and half.

Few in modern era were able to match their achievements and aura. But now, these two titans have reached the last lap of a long race, and would want to bow out in a blaze of glory.

It’s tough to imagine Kohli and Rohit being part of India’s ODI set-up after the Champions Trophy irrespective of the outcome.

It might even impact their future in Test cricket, as a lukewarm outing here might force the selectors to mull over their role ahead of India’s tour to England in June.

Similarly, a failure to win the Champions Trophy will bring the role of head coach Gautam Gambhir under scrutiny.

Gambhir might have received a temporary relief after India’s domination over England in the recent home series, but not it wouldn’t be enough to brush under the carpet, India’s recent travails against New Zealand and Australia.

But a global trophy will certainly give him a much better ground to stand.

From a team perspective, India will be eager to wrest their first ICC trophy in the 50-over format after their triumph in the 2013 Champions Trophy under the enigmatic Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

It will be a perfect parting gift to Kohli and Rohit and a welcome carpet to some young names such as Shubman Gill who are set to take India into the future.

 

India, the reigning ICC Men’s T20 World Cup winners, enter the Champions Trophy with a 3-0 series sweep over England. The batters impressed with their scintillating knocks, while the bowlers were at their proficient best to bamboozle the England batters. With all their matches in Dubai, India will be keen to continue the good momentum they have right now into going all the way towards the Champions Trophy. Here’s a SWOT analysis from IANS on the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team taking part in the Champions Trophy happening for the first time after 2017.

Strength: Undoubtedly, India’s main strength lies in their top four powerful batters. Captain Rohit Sharma showed parks of his ultra-attacking way of playing in the first ten overs while hitting 119 in Cuttack, while Shubman Gill stepped up to hit a fine century in Ahmedabad. The Rohit-Gill opening combination has been the most productive pairing for India.

Since joining forces in 2023, Rohit and Gill have made 1874 runs as an opening pair in 27 innings, averaging 72.07, including six 100-plus and 11 fifty-plus stands, making for a highly useful opening combination for the Indian team in 50-over cricket.

Virat Kohli also got a fifty in Ahmedabad to add more confidence in India’s ability to control middle overs with the bat, while Shreyas Iyer has stepped up as a very solid number four batter. With Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja batting deep and in good current all-round form, it augurs well for the Indian team in their quest to register competitive scores in Dubai.

Weakness: With no Jasprit Bumrah, it means India are without a game-changing fast-bowling force who could turn around the game in a jiffy in any phase of the game. His absence is a body blow for India, as they would look up to Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh to step up.

Another pocket of weakness India have is diluting the powers of KL Rahul. It’s no secret that Rahul has been a handy run-scorer at number five. But with head coach Gautam Gambhir’s liking for left-right combination taking precedence, it has meant Axar has batted at that slot.

Rahul, meanwhile, has been pushed to number six, a place where his recent returns have gone down. A decision like this might backfire if India collapses like a pack of cards in the quest of getting fast runs in their batting innings.

Opportunity: India last won the Champions Trophy in 2013, when MS Dhoni was at the helm. Since then, they have reached two semi-finals and as many finals in 50-over ICC events. While they missed a home ODI World Cup win in 2023 and another Champions Trophy triumph in 2017, they now have a golden chance to make up for it in Dubai.

A Champions Trophy triumph will give Rohit another ICC trophy after winning T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies last year, while the win will also ensure a big result is in Gambhir’s kitty after having a tumultuous time in his coaching stint so far.

Threat: By picking five spinners in Axar, Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy, India have decided to keep all options open in terms of bowling composition. It’s clear that they are going in with an intention to play three spinners in their playing eleven, especially with Dubai coming off hosting ILT20 matches earlier this month.

But what if they are asked to defend totals, and dew sets in the evening in Dubai, it would mean that their spin-pronged strategy would backfire, which then poses a big threat to their chances of winning the tournament.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, and Varun Chakravarthy.

Gujarat Titans Schedule IPL 2025: One-time champion Gujarat Titans will be entering the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season under the leadership of newly-appointed India ODI vice-captain Shubman Gill, and aim to return to the playoff stage. After winning in their first season – and reaching two finals in two years – GT could manage only an eighth-place finish in 2024. Gujarat also kept Rashid Khan, B Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan in the retentions, and bought big names like Jos Buttler and Kagiso Rabada in the mega auction.

Here is Gujarat Titans’ IPL 2025 schedule in full:

March 25 – GT vs PBKS – Ahmedabad – 7:30 PM

March 29 – GT vs MI – Ahmedabad – 7:30 PM

April 2 – RCB vs GT – Bengaluru – 7:30 PM

April 6 – SRH vs GT – Hyderabad – 7:30 PM

April 9 – GT vs RR – Ahmedabad – 7:30 PM

April 12 – LSG vs GT – Lucknow – 3:30 PM

April 19 – GT vs DC – Ahmedabad – 3:30 PM

April 21 – KKR vs GT – Kolkata – 7:30 PM

April 28 – RR vs GT – Jaipur – 7:30 PM

May 2 – GT vs SRH – Ahmedabad – 7:30 PM

May 6 – MI vs GT – Mumbai – 7:30 PM

May 11 – DC vs GT – Delhi – 7:30 PM

May 14 – GT vs LSG – Ahmedabad – 7:30 PM

May 18 – GT vs CSK – Ahmedabad – 3:30 PM

GT IPL 2025 Squad: Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Kagiso Rabada (Rs. 10.75 crore), Jos Buttler (Rs. 15.75 crore). Mohammed Siraj (Rs. 12.25 crore), Prasidh Krishna (Rs. 9.50 crore), Nishant Sindhu (Rs. 30 lakh), Mahipal Lomror (Rs. 1.70 crore), Kumar Kushagra (Rs. 65 lakh), Anuj Rawat (Rs. 30 lakh), Manav Suthar (Rs. 30 lakh), Washington Sundar (Rs. 3.20 crore), Gerald Coetzee (Rs. 2.40 crore), Arshad Khan (Rs. 1.30 crore), Gurnoor Brar (Rs. 1.30 crore), Sherfane Rutherford (Rs. 2.60 crore), Sai Kishore (Rs. 2 crore), Ishant Sharma (Rs. 75 lakh), Jayant Yadav (Rs. 75 lakh), Glenn Phillips (Rs. 2 crore), Karim Janat (Rs. 75 lakh), Kulwant Khejroliya (Rs. 30 lakh).