ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Bangladesh vs India: Start, teams, preview

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy will commence on Thursday, February 20th, at the Dubai International Stadium in the UAE, with Bangladesh facing India. The match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM local time (09:00 GMT). Al Jazeera Sports will provide live coverage of the match highlights with text and images.

India is considered a strong favorite to win this year's Champions Trophy, and they will begin their campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai. Due to an agreement between India, the ICC, and Pakistan regarding participation matters, all of India's matches will be held in the UAE, rather than being hosted by Pakistan.

In the previous ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, the 2023 Cricket World Cup, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team narrowly missed out on the title, finishing as runners-up. Nevertheless, their victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup somewhat compensated for their loss in the 50-over format. Another victory in this Champions Trophy would undoubtedly help them shake off the painful memories of losing to Australia in Ahmedabad, while hosts Pakistan are also among the favorites to win this year's tournament.

India's current top ranking in the ICC's Men's ODI rankings is a major reason why they are considered the favorites. Furthermore, the geographical location of this tournament is also advantageous for the Indian team. With all of India's matches, including the final (should they qualify), being held in the UAE, they are confident in defeating their opponents with their strong spin attack. India will be taking this tournament very seriously, aiming to add to their two previous Champions Trophy victories in 2002 and 2013. There is a high probability that this will be the last time veterans Rohit and Virat Kohli will be playing for India, and for both players at 37 and 36 respectively, there would be no better way to sign off than with a trophy.

Bangladesh hosted the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1998, but at the time they were not eligible to participate in the tournament, which was designed to raise funds for non-Test playing nations, as the Bengal Tigers had not yet achieved Test status. They made their debut in the next edition, but were eliminated in the first round. However, they have made significant progress since then. The Bengal Tigers reached the quarter-finals of the 2015 Cricket World Cup and went even further in the Champions Trophy held in England two years later, reaching the semi-finals, but eventually lost to India. Currently, they have slipped to ninth place in the ICC's Men's ODI rankings, and facing the mighty India in their opening match is not an ideal start. However, with their growing strength and match-winners in their squad, the Bengal Tigers may roar again in this tournament.