India's spinner Axar Patel approached a significant milestone on Thursday at the Dubai International Stadium. Historically, only four Indian bowlers have achieved a hat-trick in One Day Internationals, with Kuldeep Yadav being the sole spinner to do so on two occasions. However, none of these hat tricks occurred during the Champions Trophy. The only instance of a bowler securing a hat-trick in the history of the ICC's 50-over tournament was Jerome Taylor from the West Indies in 2006. On this occasion, Axar had the opportunity to emulate the West Indian fast bowler, but his pursuit of this rare achievement was thwarted when captain Rohit Sharma failed to hold onto a straightforward catch at first slip during India's Group A match against Bangladesh.

In the ninth over, during his first over of the match, Axar claimed his first wicket by dismissing Tanzid Hasan. The left-handed batsman attempted to play a shot through the off side against a flat delivery that was wide of off stump, resulting in a thick outside edge that was safely taken by wicketkeeper KL Rahul. Axar then followed up by dismissing the seasoned Mushfiqur Rahim on the very next ball, who was unable to score. The batter attempted to defend against an in-drifting delivery, but the ball spun sharply past his bat, clipping the shoulder and landing securely in the keeper's gloves.

During the delivery aimed at securing a hat-trick, Rohit positioned two slips and a leg slip as Axar bowled a comparable delivery to Jaker Ali. The ball deflected off a thick outside edge and headed directly towards Rohit at first slip; however, he failed to secure the straightforward catch. The 37-year-old expressed his disbelief and struck the ground in frustration several times before offering an apology to Axar with his hands clasped in a gesture of contrition. 

Observe Rohit's missed catch here.

India's impactful show in Powerplay

India lost the toss; however, Rohit expressed the team's intention to field first in Dubai. The bowlers executed their strategies flawlessly, leading the two-time champions to reduce Bangladesh to five wickets for a mere 39 runs during the powerplay.

Mohammed Shami made an early impact by claiming two quick wickets, dismissing Soumya Sarkar and Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Since 2015, he has amassed 20 wickets in ICC ODI matches, ranking second only to Trent Boult, with an impressive strike rate of 19.8. Harshit Rana contributed by taking one wicket, while Axar secured two.

Read Also: Gautam Gambhir Accused of 'Favouritism' as India Picks Harshit Rana Over Arshdeep Singh vs Bangladesh

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