Dubai: India have plenty of questions to solve including the selection of their pace bowling attack and would aim to find the answer when they square off against Bangladesh in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign opener at Dubai International Stadium here on Wednesday, February 20.
Despite a clinical series win over England at home in the build-up to the ICC event, there are a few mysteries that captain Rohit Sharma and team management are yet to resolve. Can this Indian bowling unit tide over the absence of injured pace talisman Jasprit Bumrah? Can Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma summon their glory days back? Can young names like Shubman Gill ace the pressure of a multi-nation competition to deliver consistently?
With only three seamers and five spinners named in the Champions Trophy squad, one of the biggest questions was which two pacers would start for India. Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana played two games and Arshdeep got only 5 overs to bowl in the only game he played.
The 34-year-old Shami made his comeback to international cricket after a prolonged gap of 1.4 years due to an injury. However, he didn't look in rhythm and was quite wayward with his line and length. The right-arm pacer played only two games out of five and bowled only 5.3 overs. He managed to pick three wickets but leaked 50 runs at an economy of 9.09. India began with Shami in the ODI series but again didn't bowl a full quota of overs in both games. He got to bowl 15.5 overs in two games. He picked up 2 wickets per 52 runs at an economy of 6.56.
On the other hand, Rana replaced Shivam Dube as a concussion substitute to make his T20I debut and impressed everyone by picking up three wickets. His stunning outing with the ball in a T20I game helped Rana to get his ODI cap. Harshit Rana was given a chance to play all three ODIs of the series. Overall, he did well to pick up six wickets in three games at an average of 24.33.