Cricket fans perform Havan in Varanasi for India’s victory ahead of Champions Trophy clash against Bangladesh

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], February 20 (ANI): Ahead of India’s opening match in the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 against Bangladesh at Dubai on Thursday, cricket fans in Varanasi performed a havan for their team’s victory in the first match of the mega event.

India, the finalists of the 2023 edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and winners of last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will look to make an impact in the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy from the start by getting one over Bangladesh in their tournament opener.

Cricket fans from Varanasi were seen sitting and doing the havan for the victory of Men in Blue in the ongoing competition.

Rohit Sharma’s side will be without their finest bowling asset and the ‘National Treasure’ as dubbed by batter Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and have banked on a spin-heavy setup to get the job done for them in the tournament.

Their opponents first up are also good exponents of spin and have the capacity to dish out a surprise in big events. The Tigers will take inspiration from their 2007 50-over World Cup heroics against India and will back their experienced players to come good on Thursday.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, India captain Rohit Sharma confirmed seasoned pacer Mohammed Shami and ‘Chinaman’ spinner Kuldeep Yadav are fit for the Champions Trophy opening clash against Bangladesh in Dubai.

Shami recently returned to international cricket after spending more than a year away from the game due to an injury. India was deprived of Kuldeep’s presence since the Test series against New Zealand last year. He was referred to the BCCI Centre of Excellence for the long-term resolution of his chronic left groin issue.

“Bowling fitness is fine (Shami). We wanted Shami to get back to bowling fitness. He has played some games. Whatever I have seen of him so far is perfect, fine. He has done the job for us over the years. Hopefully, he can find some rhythm in this tournament. Kuldeep has returned after a hernia operation. He looks quite confident, and if both perform, then it is great for us,” Rohit said in the pre-match press conference.

During the buildup to the Champions Trophy, Shami and Kuldeep featured in two home ODIs against England. They toiled hard to find their rhythm and managed to scythe two wickets each.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Bangladesh: Nazmul Hossain Shanto (c), Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, MD Mahmud Ullah, Jaker Ali Anik, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Parvez Hossain Emon, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nahid Rana.