Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has dismissed the chances of Pakistan defeating India in the much-anticipated Champions Trophy 2025 clash in Dubai on Sunday, February 23. Ganguly, who led India in many memorable encounters against their arch-rivals, said India’s potent spin attack will give them a significant edge over Pakistan.
India will go into the encounter after a comprehensive win against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday. Mohammed Shami had a stellar season on his comeback to ICC events as the senior pacer picked up a five-wicket haul. Spinners Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav kept Bangladesh’s scoring rate in check in the middle overs.
At one stage, Axar Patel was on a hat-trick while Bangladesh had lost 5 wickets for 35 runs but Tauhid Hridoy and Zaker Ali put on a 150-plus run partnership to take the team to 228. India reached the target with six wickets to spare thanks to a superb hundred from Shubman Gill.
In contrast, Pakistan lost to New Zealand by 60 runs in their tournament opener in Karachi on Wednesday. New Zealand’s pace attack and spin were enough to put up a mammoth 320 runs, thanks to hundreds from Tom Latham and Will Young.
Speaking at a promotional event in Kolkata, Ganguly said India are favourites not only to win against Pakistan but also to advance in the tournament. “India are favourites not only against Pakistan but for me for the tournament. It will not be easy for Pakistan. The spinners will also play a key role. I think India will go with the same (bowling) combination,” Ganguly said. India played with a three-man spin attack and picked Harshit Rana and Mohammed Shami as the main pacers along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
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Pakistan, on the other hand, has only one spinner in their playing XI. In fact, they have only one specialist spinner in their 15-member squad. “They will need spinners on the Dubai wicket. I think this Dubai pitch will turn a bit and Pakistan don’t play spin very well. India have great spinners,” Ganguly said. The former Indian captain also predicted an early exit for Pakistan. “New Zealand have beaten Pakistan. So, New Zealand are ahead. If India beat Pakistan, Pakistan will probably be out of the competition. So, I think India and New Zealand will advance from this group,” he said.
Pakistan suffered a major setback with Fakhar Zaman getting injured after the game against New Zealand. The explosive opener suffered a leg injury. While Babar Azam struggled to find rhythm in Karachi, India’s star Virat Kohli continued to struggle against spin.
After getting dismissed twice off Adil Rashid in the home ODI series earlier this month, Kohli was dismissed off Rishad Hussain against Bangladesh on Thursday. He had trouble rotating the strike in the middle overs, but Ganguly backed the star batsman to overcome his struggles against spin.
“Such is the quality of Virat Kohli — I am sure he will be able to deal with this problem. He has scored 81 international centuries, and I am sure he has scored runs against leg-spin as well. So, maybe it was one of those days when he got out. He has to find a way to play it.”