Shubman Gill, the freshly minted No. 1 ODI batsman, produced a resolute knock to record his eighth ODI century, leading India to a six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their first match of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
Mohammed Shami’s brilliant 5-53 not only helped India restrict Bangladesh to 228 but also made him the fastest Indian bowler to claim 200 ODI wickets. Gill, undeterred by the sluggish pitch and the pressure of wickets falling around him, anchored the chase with an unbeaten 101 off 129 deliveries, including nine boundaries and two sixes.
Gill was supported by skipper Rohit Sharma, who added a brisk 41, and then by KL Rahul, who played a patient 41 from 47 deliveries. Rahul's level-headedness at the crease justified his choice over Rishabh Pant as the chosen wicketkeeper-batter. India easily achieved the chase with 21 deliveries to spare.
Although it was Gill's lowest ODI century, its value was enormous as it made India walk into their high-pressure match against Pakistan with confidence after Bangladesh's bowlers tested them. For Bangladesh, the bright spot was Towhid Hridoy's gritty century and his key 154-run stand with Jaker Ali, who made 68.
Shami paved the way early, removing Soumya Sarkar, who pushed at an attempted drive and got an edge past KL Rahul. Wickets continued to fall, with Najmul Hossain Shanto, at short cover off Harshit Rana, being caught. Tanzid Hasan played with some promise with three elegant boundaries, but India did not relent. Shami removed Mehidy Hasan Miraz, caught at first slip, and Axar Patel removed Tanzid with an outside edge to Rahul.
Axar struck again the next ball, dismissing Mushfiqur Rahim for a golden duck, although he was denied a hat-trick when Rohit dropped Jaker at first slip. Jaker and Hridoy then approached cautiously, incrementally rebuilding the innings by rotating strike and hammering loose balls.
Though there were a few close shave moments—Hridoy was dropped on 23 by Hardik Pandya, and Jaker survived on a stumping opportunity off Ravindra Jadeja—the two kept Bangladesh in the game. Jaker broke a long boundary dry spell eventually with a fluent on-drive against Harshit and went on to score his fifty in 87 balls. Hridoy, also, achieved his half-century in 85 deliveries.
Hridoy revealed his batting might by lofting and slog-sweeping Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav for maximums. Jaker's stay in the middle came to an end when he pulled a wide slower ball from Shami too high to long-on, giving the pacer his 200th ODI scalp. Rishad Hossain provided brief fireworks before falling to Harshit.
Even after struggling with cramps, Hridoy persevered, scoring his first ODI century in 114 balls. Shami concluded the innings by getting rid of Taskin Ahmed and then having Hridoy top-edge a shot to short fine leg, leaving Bangladesh at a decent 228.
India's run chase started with Gill pulling and lofting Taskin Ahmed for initial boundaries, and Rohit taking his time to settle down before unleashing an onslaught against Mustafizur Rahman. Rohit's free-flowing stroke play saw him reach 11,000 ODI runs, becoming the fourth Indian to do so.
Rohit's aggressive innings came to an end when he tried a ambitious lofted shot against Taskin but mis-hit it to cover-point. As spin was introduced into the game, Gill and Virat Kohli played cautiously. Kohli shed the shackles with a pull shot against Mehidy Hasan Miraz but met his demise soon after, cutting a cut shot to backward point off Rishad Hossain.
Gill hit his ODI slowest fifty, in 69 balls, as Shreyas Iyer had a scare of being run out. Shreyas himself fell soon after, mistiming a lofted shot to mid-off, before Axar Patel top-edged a slog off to give Rishad his second wicket.
Gill and Rahul then settled the innings, going for strike rotation and pouncing on loose balls. Rahul received a lifeline on nine when Jaker dropped a catch at deep square leg, compounding Bangladesh's irritations. The two took advantage, battering wayward balls to the boundary.
Gill short-arm jabbed Rishad over mid-wicket for four to reach his vital fifty-run partnership with Rahul, who responded with an elegant cut through the point field. Gill next flicked and pulled Tanzim for a six and a four before reaching his hundred. Rahul finished it in style with a pulled six, taking their unconcluded fifth-wicket partnership to 87 runs and making India start their Champions Trophy campaign on a winning note.
Brief Scores:
Bangladesh: 228 in 49.4 overs (Towhid Hridoy 100, Jaker Ali 68; Mohammed Shami 5-53, Harshit Rana 3-31)
India: 231/4 in 46.3 overs (Shubman Gill 101*, Rohit Sharma 41; Rishad Hossain 2-38, Taskin Ahmed 1-36)
Result: India won by six wickets.
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