Today the curtain rises on the ICC Champions Trophy: Bangladesh-England match at 3:30

The Dhaka Times Desk After a gap of two years, the curtain of the ICC Champions Trophy is rising again today in the 50 over format. Bangladesh will face England in the opening match at Kennington Oval in London at 3:30 PM Bangladesh time.

After a gap of two years, the cricket world is once again enjoying a frenzy of 50-over ODI cricket. The opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy is going to start today (Thursday) on the soil of England with the best 8 teams in the world. The Bangladesh cricket team is returning to the Champions Trophy after a break of two seasons by facing the host England in this match.

India is the current champion of the ICC Champions Trophy. Along with hosts England, Australia and South Africa, who are at the top of the ICC rankings, are among the top favourites. Several cricketers including Virat Kohli performed poorly in the IPL. However, Virat Kohli has played well through the preparation match. Team India has also proved that in the warm-up matches against New Zealand and Bangladesh.

However, England did not play a warm-up match. But played 3 ODI series against South Africa. Eoin Morgan's side won the series 2-1. South Africa showed in the last match that they are also in great form ahead of the Champions Trophy. Kagiso Rabada's bowling cannon destroyed England's batting lineup. On the other hand, Australia has also shown that it is the best of any team in both batting and bowling departments.

On the other hand, Bangladesh is also with New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. There are four teams in two groups. After this round robin league system, two teams will advance to the semi-finals. It is difficult to say which four teams will emerge. It is almost certain that the top four teams and the remaining four teams will not be swept away. The reason is that these four teams have the qualification to play the semi-finals. Cricket is a glorious game but also a game of uncertainty. It is not possible to say till the last ball, who will win the title or who will play in the semi-finals.

So the most interesting event after the World Cup is going to start with several teams in the list of favourites. England and Bangladesh are facing two such teams in the opening match.

The ICC Champions Trophy is not easy to assume. The first team is England. And the second team is Bangladesh. The English were defeated by Bangladesh in the last two ICC World Cups. The ICC event means England's defeat to Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Tigers want to forget about the batting collapse in the warm-up match against India today.

Captain Mashrafe Bin Mortuza thinks so. He doesn't want to keep the match against India on his mind at all. He wants to show how he batted in previous matches. Rather, he wants to take the match against India as a 'wake up message'. So it can be definitely said that Mashrafe's team wants to fully accept the advantage of playing against the favorites England without pressure.

Today (Thursday) at 3:30 pm Bangladesh time, Mashrafe said in a press conference before facing England in the opening match at London's Kennington Oval, England will be under pressure, not Bangladesh. Just like Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara wanted to make Bangladesh a black horse before the start of the tournament, Mashrafe also wanted to put pressure on England in the same way! From the looks of it, the tournament looks like it could start with a title fight from the opening day. If Bangladesh can really somehow stop England today, then it is almost certain that the title fight of the tournament will be heated from the opening day. But let's see what the Damal boys of Bengal do today. The Bangladesh team wishes in advance from The Dhaka Times. Bangladesh team will achieve their desired goal, that is our only hope.