Home
Team India had an extended practice session on February 17 evening ahead of their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 opening clash against Bangladesh. All-rounder Hardik Pandya was the showstopper as he smashed humongous sixes at the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai and bowled rockets that even troubled the likes of Virat Kohli.
Indian batters were in ultra-aggressive mode in Dubai despite the ball swinging under the lights. During match simulations, the ball travelled outside the ground a lot, often going over sight screen and landing on the ground next to it. India's new no.5 batter Axar Patel was using his long levers and reaching the ball to play big shots.
Opener Shubman Gill looked in phenomenal touch and played effortless shots. Veteran duo Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were not too troubled barring Pandya. Another welcome change for India was pacer Mohammed Shami getting back to his old rhythm. Shami returned to the ODI setup after a long injury layoff and took two wickets from as many games against England.
The way Indian batters batted, it is clear that head coach Gautam Gambhir wants them to be fearless. That is the reason why he wants batters till no.8 to provide the top-order with more freedom to take on the bowlers. It won't be a surprise if India break the 300-run at Dubai International Cricket Stadium for the first time. However, the top-order batters will need to be vary of the new ball threat, especially under lights.
India's record in Dubai
India have played six ODIs at the venue so far where they will take on Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand. India's highest score of 285/7 at the venue came against Afghanistan in Asia Cup 2018 where former opener Shikhar Dhawan scored 127. Chasing 253 against Afghanistan, the match was tied with a ball to go. Later, in Asia Cup 2018 final, India beat Bangladesh by three wickets in a last-ball thriller chasing a target of 223.
Highest ODI scores in Dubai
While spin is likely to play a massive role, the middle-order batters' approach showed that they want to take the game head-on instead of getting under pressure. 300 has only breached four times at the venue and only once while chasing in a losing cause by Pakistan against Australia. The highest score at the ground belongs to England when they scored 355/5 against Pakistan in 2015. The highest successful run chase of 285 was pulled off by Sri Lanka against Pakistan in 2013.
ADVERTISEMENT
