Champions Trophy: Ton-up Shubman Gill, five-star Mohammed Shami power India to six-wicket win over Bangladesh

Shubman Gill’s unbeaten century (101 not out) and Mohammed Shami’s five-wicket haul propelled India to a six-wicket victory over Bangladesh in their Champions Trophy opener. India reached the target of 229, thanks to an 87-run stand between Gill and KL Rahul, who remained not out at 41. Closer to reaching his eighth ODI hundred, the 25-year-old Indian vice-captain, labelled by his captain Rohit Sharma as a “very, very classy player” in the pre-match presser, flicked Tanzim for a six to deep mid-wicket- a stunning shot indeed.

DUBAI: An eighth ODI hundred by Shubman Gill (101 not out, 129b, 9×4, 2×6) and a superb five-wicket haul by veteran pacer Mohammed Shami (five for 53 in 10 overs) helped India down Bangladesh by six wickets and get off their 2025 Champions Trophy campaign off in style in a Group A fixture on Thursday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Chasing 229, India seemed to be in a delicate position at 144 for four in the 31st over, before Gill, showing why he is currently the No 1 ranked batter in ODI cricket, found an able ally in KL Rahul (41 not out, 47b, 1×4, 2×6), as the pair added 87 in 98 balls in an unbeaten partnership for the fifth wicket to take India home. Buoyed by the win, the tournament favourites now take on arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday.

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Coming off a century in his last game, the third ODI against England at Ahmedabad, Gill, who sported a determined look from the start, started dominating the Bangladesh attack from the first over when he executed a short-arm pull for four off Taskin Ahmed. Dancing down the pitch repeatedly to smash the bowlers past the cover region or pulling them with disdain, he looked in regal touch.

Closer to reaching his eighth ODI hundred, the 25-year-old Indian vice-captain, labelled by his captain Rohit Sharma as a “very, very classy player” in the pre-match presser, flicked Tanzim for a six to deep mid-wicket- a stunning shot indeed.

Chasing 229 under lights, India were quickly off the blocks as Rohit (41, 36b, 7×4) and Gill gave them a stroke-filled 69-run start in 59 balls. Going ballistic, Rohit smacked three fours in the sixth over off Mustafizur Rahman. However, once Rohit succumbed while trying to smash Taskin for another boundary, India lost a few wickets to stumble in the chase. Virat Kohli (22, 38b, 1×4), Shreyas Iyer (15, 17b, 2×4) and Axar Patel (8) all fell to poor shots as the chase became rather tense.

Kohli cut an innocuous ball from leg-spinner Rishad Hossain ball outside off-stump to backward point, Iyer, trying to clear mid-off, but mistimed his shot, while Axar top-edged a slog sweep to give Hossain his second wicket.

To India’s luck, Rahul, who sealed the chase with a ferocious hook shot that went for a six into the crowd off Tanzim Hasan Sakib in the 47th over, was dropped by Jaker at nine at deep mid-wicket off Taskin Ahmed, with score at 166 for four in the 37th over, and went on to capitalise on the reprieve. Batting fluently at the No 6 spot, Rahul showed exactly why India prefer him as ODI ‘keeper-bat over Rishabh Pant-to safeguard against a collapse.

Earlier, showing signs of returning to his regal best after being out of the game for almost 14 months due to a serious knee injury, Shami became the fastest Indian bowler to 200 ODI wickets.

However, fired by a gallant, maiden ODI century (100, 118b, 6×4, 2×6) by Towhid Hridoy, who staved off extreme cramps later in his innings, and his mammoth 154-run fighting partnership in 206 balls for the sixth wicket with Jaker Ali (68, 114b, 4×4), Bangladesh managed to crawl back after they were tottering at 35 for five in the ninth over to score 228.

After they lost half their side with little on board after electing to bat first, Bangladesh rallied through Towhid and Jaker to reach a respectable total, though the duo benefitted big time due to India’s sloppy fielding. Appearing butter-fingered, India dropped two catches- Rohit (at slip) and Hardik Pandya (at mid-off) being the culprits, even as ‘keeper- KL Rahul missed a stumping chance.

Unfortunately, despite Towhid’s brave hundred, Bangladesh folded up in 49.4 overs. Once Jaker was out caught at long-on by Virat Kohli off Shami, Bangladesh suffered another collapse, losing their last five wickets for 39 runs in seven overs.

Bangladesh got off to a disastrous start when they slipped to two for two by the second over-Soumya Sarkar was caught behind off Shami for a five-ball duck, while skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto was caught at cover-point by Virat Kohli off pacer Harshit Rana, who repaid the faith of the Indian team management, taking three for 31 in 7.4 overs, giving a good back-up to Shami after being surprisingly preferred over Arshdeep Singh.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz (5) became Shami’s second wicket as Gill took a stunning catch at slip, reducing Bangladesh to 26 for three in the seventh over.

After he looked rusty against England at home, Shami’s return to form will be a big boost for India, dealing with the absence of Jasprit Bumrah due to injury. On Thursday, the 34-year-old took his landmark 200th ODI wicket when he took his third scalp. The top-class speedster reached this feat in 103 innings, incidentally beating the previous-best tally of current chief selector Ajit Agarkar, who did so in 133 innings. The peerless Shami also went past Zaheer Khan’s record of 59 wickets to become India’s highest wicket-taker in ICC tournaments.

Bangladesh’s woes got worse when left-arm spinner Axar Patel struck twice in two balls in his first over to send Tanzid Hasan (25) and Mushfiqur Rahim, for duck-both batters caught by Rahul behind the stumps. However, Axar was denied a hat-trick as Rohit Sharma shelled a catch at first slip to hand Jaker Ali a reprieve on nought. Realising his blunder, Rohit slapped his hand on the grass in frustration and immediately apologised to Axar.

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