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In Dubai, an intense clash unfolded between India and Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Pakistan’s captain, Mohammad Rizwan, won the toss and chose to bat first. The team made one change – Imam-ul Haq replaced Fakhar Zaman. Notably, this marks Imam-ul Haq’s return to an ODI match for Pakistan after a 16-month break since his last appearance at the ICC World Cup 2023 in India, while the Indian side maintained the same lineup.
Pakistan’s innings was opened by former captain Babar Azam alongside Imam-ul Haq. The match got off to a shaky start for India when Mohammad Shami struggled with his line and length in the very first over, bowling five wides and conceding 6 runs. Similarly, Harshit Rana’s opening over saw him give away 4 runs, including a wide. However, Shami redeemed himself in his second over by restricting the scoring to just 4 runs. Unfortunately for India, Rana’s second over proved costly as Babar Azam smashed two brilliant fours, adding 8 runs to his tally.
Babar Azam reached a significant milestone during his innings. With those two fours, he not only scored 10 runs in the over but also completed 1000 runs in ICC ODI tournaments – needing just 9 runs before the match to hit that landmark. Babar, who has already amassed 791 runs in the ICC ODI World Cup, now boasts over 200 runs in the Champions Trophy as well. Despite this milestone, he eventually left the field after scoring 23 runs, with Hardik Pandya guiding him off in the 9th over to register India’s first breakthrough of the game.
