IND vs BAN, Champions Trophy 2025: India need to figure out playing on slow and low wickets

Chasing on a slow and low wicket is not always easier for stroke-makers and Indian batters have often struggled to adapt when the pitch isn't conducive to play through the line. The 2023 World Cup illustrated this perfectly. India remained unbeaten throughout the league stage, largely because they played on sporting tracks.

However, in the final against Australia, the pitch was much slower when India batted first, making stroke-making difficult. As a result, the Indian batters struggled, while the Aussies adapted brilliantly and dominated the chase. India's opening game against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy in Dubai once again saw a nervy chase on Thursday.

It wasn't that India batted poorly, but the lack of pace on the Dubai pitch slowed down the entire process. Perhaps the Indian team was expecting dew to come in to play and make things easier, but that never happened. Thank God that there was Shubman Gill, who continues to impress with his form and played the waiting game.

Meanwhile, captain Rohit Sharma seemed in a desperate hurry to score quickly, and the Mumbai-based commentators backed his approach, justifying the need to attack on a relatively slow track. "Rohit knew the pitch would slow down further," one commentator remarked.

Not many were happy with the way Virat Kohli got out. He could have played more cautiously to score some more runs before the Pakistan game. Even the man in-form Shreyas Iyer couldn't come up with his best on a pitch, where the ball didn't come on quickly on to the bat. Otherwise, the flow wasn't too bad, even on a slower pitch.

As always, this Indian team has little to worry about in the league stage-they cruise through flawlessly until the final moment arrives. But what goes wrong then? No one really knows. More often than not, big-match pressure catches them off guard. Hopefully, the 2024 T20 World Cup has helped them overcome that fear.