India ODI vice-captain Shubman Gill slammed a masterful hundred on his Champions Trophy debut against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, February 20. Gill smashed his eighth ODI century as he helped India chase down a middling total of 229 to kick off their campaign with a thumping win.
His hundred makes him join an elite list of Indian players who have hit a hundred in their Champions Trophy debut innings, making him only the fourth one to do so. Before him, only Sachin Tendulkar, Shikhar Dhawan and Mohammad Kaif had got to their tons in their first Champions Trophy appearance.
The Men in Blue won the Champions Trophy in 2013 and qualified for the final in 2017, where they suffered a humiliating 180-run defeat to arch-rivals Pakistan. They will be playing the Mohammad Rizwan-led side on February 23.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, suffered a defeat against Pakistan Shaheens in the warm-up game. Several of their key white-ball cricketers, including Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah have retired from the format, which has hurt them in the format. They had a very rough outing in the 2023 ODI World Cup, finishing eighth, which invited tremendous criticism. Nevertheless, Bangladesh are always motivated to beat India in international cricket and that can give them a necessary morale boost to cause an upset.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar
Bangladesh v India Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai 20 Feb 2.30 PM IST
Pakistan v India Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai 23 Feb 2.30 PM IST
New Zealand v India Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai 2 Mar 2.30 PM IS
