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Rohit Sharma ended up dropping a regulation catch at first slip and thus denying India teammate Axar Patel a historic hat-trick.
Rohit Sharma was furious at himself after missing the catch. (Screengrab/AP)
India’s Champions Trophy 2025 opening clash against Bangladesh turned out to be an eventful affair. Plenty of records were broken. Mohammed Shami became quickest Indian to 200 ODI wickets, Rohit Sharma second quickest to score 11,000 ODI runs before securing his 100th win as India captain. And more.
Then there were some misses too. One particularly will rankle Rohit and Axar Patel for at least a few days to come. After Bangladesh opted to bat first, Shami and Axar combined to trigger a top-order collapse. At one stage, Bangladesh were reduced to 35/5 before recovering to post a decent total.
35/5 could’ve easily turned to 35/6 had Rohit held onto a regulation catch of Jaker Ali while manning the first slip. And it could’ve also meant a hat-trick for Axar who had gotten rid of Tanzid Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim off his previous two deliveries.
Rohit repeatedly slapped the turf in sheer frustration after grassing the catch before apologising with folded hands to his India teammate for the error.
Later, during the post-match presentation, he also made a peace offering.
“May take him (Axar) for dinner tomorrow (smiles),” Rohit said. “No, that was an easy catch, I should have taken that catch with the standards I have set for myself. But I do know these things are bound to happen. Credit to (Towhid) Hridoy and Jaker, they stitched a nice partnership.”
Rohit’s wasn’t the only fielding error that Indian fielders were guilty of. Later, Hardik Pandya also dropped an easy catch of Hridoy at mid-off while wicketkeeper KL Rahul missed a stumping chance to send back Jaker.
Hridoy and Jaker capitalised on the Indian mistakes and stitched a century stand to revive Bangladesh. Hridoy, battling cramps, went on to score a memorable century while Jaker made 68 as Bangladesh were bowled out for 228.
Later, India overhauled the target in 46.3 overs with Shubman Gill hitting an unbeaten 101.
India next face Pakistan in their second Group A match this Sunday in Dubai.
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
