ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Top 5 key player battles to watch out for in IND vs BAN match

The IND vs BAN match will be played on Thursday in Dubai.

The Indian cricket team will kick off their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 in Dubai.

India, who will play all of their matches in Dubai, are one of the strong favorites to win the title, even though they are missing Jasprit Bumrah for this competition. They recently hammered England 3-0 in a home ODI series.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, lost their last two ODI series to West Indies and Afghanistan.

While the IND vs BAN clash looks one-sided on paper, fans must watch out for these five individual player battles.

ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Top 5 key player battles to watch out for in IND vs BAN match

1. Rohit Sharma vs Taskin Ahmed

India captain Rohit Sharma returned to form with a thunderous century in the second ODI against England in Cuttack. The 37-year-old opener plays an aggressive brand of cricket. But it would be a challenge for him to take down Taskin Ahmed as the Bangladesh seamer can swing the new ball both ways.

2. Hardik Pandya vs Mustafizur Rahman

The battle of death overs between Hardik Pandya and Mustafizur Rahman would be compelling. In the death overs in ODI cricket, Pandya has a terrific strike rate of 148 across his nine-year career. On the other hand, Mutafizur averages an impressive 16.33 in the death overs in ODIs.

Their player battle would be important in which team gains the momentum towards the end of India’s innings.

3. Virat Kohli vs Mehidy Hasan Miraz

Virat Kohli is an established legend of ODI cricket. He’s bossed the middle-overs in this format while amassing almost 14000 runs and 50 centuries. However, in recent years, his game against spin-bowling has attracted criticism. Kohli, though, has tried to add a sweep shot in his repertoire to improve on it.

In the IND vs BAN clash, he is likely to face Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the successor to Shakib Al Hasan as Bangladesh’s key all-rounder. Mehidy has an impressive ODI record – 110 wickets at 36.10 with an economy of 4.84.

4. Nazmul Hossain Shanto vs Mohammed Shami

A new-ball player battle that we are likely to witness would be between Indian pacer Mohammed Shami and Bangladesh captain and No. 3 Nazmul Hossain Shanto.

Shami is returning to international cricket after a long time and fared decently against England. He would be hoping to return to his best against Bangladesh. For Bangladesh, captain Shanto will have to take more responsibility of the top order with Liton Das and Shakib Al Hasan both excluded. Shanto averaged 71 in five ODI innings in 2024.

5. Mushfiqur Rahim vs Kuldeep Yadav

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 could well be the last ICC competition for 37-year-old Mushfiqur Rahim, who made his ODI debut in 2006. Rahim was in excellent form in ODIs last year, managing an average of 68 in four outings.

In the IND vs BAN clash, he could be up against India’s left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the middle-overs. Kuldeep is making his comeback from a groin injury and would be looking to trouble the Bangladeshi batsmen with his spin magic.

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