Courtesy: ICC/BCB
Bangladesh’s rising sensation Towhid Hridoy brought up his maiden ODI hundred against India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Group A clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Thursday, February 20. After the conclusion of his quality innings, which allowed Bangladesh to post a total on the board to compete with, the 24-year-old remarked that if he hadn’t cramped during the death overs, he could have scored 20-30 more runs.
Notably, in the Bangladesh batting innings, Towhid Hridoy was new to the crease when they were reduced to 35/5 in the first powerplay stage before he shared a valuable 154-run stand for the sixth wicket alongside Jaker Ali. While his batting partner at the other end was dismissed on 68 runs in 114 balls with four fours, Towhid Hridoy kept the innings going from his end before reaching the three-figure mark in 114 balls.
We were clear that what we wanted to do and we planned to bat first: Hridoy backs Bangladesh captain's decision
Because of the oppressive nature of the weather in the afternoon hours in Dubai, Towhid Hridoy had used up a lot of energy to bat for the majority of the Bangladesh innings for around three hours. With that, he ended up suffering from cramps while approaching his maiden ODI hundred, which didn’t allow him to play big strokes freely against the Indian pacers in the last few overs as he ended up becoming the final wicket of his team’s innings for 100 runs in 118 balls with six fours and two maximums.
In the post-match press conference after India managed to chase down the 229-run target with six wickets in hand and 21 balls to spare, thanks to Shubman Gill’s hundred, Towhid Hridoy was quoted as saying, “Though it seemed easy from outside but that was not the case after losing five wickets. What happened is that I was patient during that point of time and I talked with myself how I can get out from here and I had the faith that if I can carry on, I can cover the dot balls. If I did not have the cramp I could have scored 20 to 30 more runs.”
Furthermore, despite the tough loss, Towhid Hridoy pointed out that the decision of Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto to bat first was a correct one. He remarked, “We were clear that what we wanted to do and we planned to bat (first). Just because we lost early wickets this thing happened, but even after losing those early wickets the way we came back, me and Jaker, and if we could have finished off the game we could have reached 270.”
