Thu Feb 20 08:50:00 UTC 2025: ## India’s Champions Trophy Campaign Begins with Toss Loss Against Bangladesh
**Dubai:** India’s Champions Trophy campaign kicked off with a loss in the toss against Bangladesh in their opening match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Bangladesh, winning the toss, elected to bat first. India opted for a spin-heavy bowling attack, fielding three spinners – Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel – alongside Mohammed Shami and the debutant Harshit Rana. Arshdeep Singh was surprisingly left out of the playing XI. KL Rahul kept wickets for India.
This marks the 11th consecutive ODI in which India has lost the toss since the 2023 World Cup final, equaling the record previously held by the Netherlands (2011-2013).
**Playing XIs:**
**India:** Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (wk), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
**Bangladesh:** Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman, Towhid Hridoy, Shoriful Islam.
The match is underway, and further updates will follow.
First Piper 