Who is Awais Ahmed? - The net bowler who impressed Rohit Sharma with inswinging yorkers in nets

Indian team has reached Dubai for the Champions Trophy 2025 and they will commence the tournament with the first game against Bangladesh on February 20. Before the actual action begins, they are engrossed in practice sessions at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. After one such practice session, India captain, Rohit Sharma was seen in a conversation with the local net bowler. 

For the unversed, India are without the services of their star pacer, Jasprit Bumrah as the veteran is recovering from a back injury. Out of the member squad, only five have featured for India in the previous edition of the Champions Trophy in 2017. With a relatively young brigade in this version of the tournament, it would be interesting to see how India will plan their proceedings. This will be the second 50-over tournament Rohit will be captaining India after the hurtful World Cup 2023 loss. 

Awais Khan, a left-arm pacer from UAE, bowled to Rohit Sharma and other Indian batters in the nets ahead of the team's Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh in Dubai. Rohit was impressed with Awais' bowling, specifically his inswinging deliveries.

Also Read: BCCI reverses stance: Player families allowed at Champions Trophy 2025 with conditions

“Class bowler. Aap hamara joota… hamara pair todne ki koshish kar rahe the par...inswinging yorker maar ke (You were trying to break our legs). Badiya bhai badiya (very good). Aap log humko idhar aake help kar rahe ho, bada acha laga, thank you (You guys ur helping us by bowling to us here)," Rohit said.

Here’s the video Rohit and net bowler's conversation:  

India squad for Champions Trophy 2025

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Team India’s Schedule: Matches, Dates, and Timings

India's schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 includes three group matches, all of which will be played in Dubai. It is worth noting that, after India refused to travel to Pakistan citing security concerns and geopolitical tensions, the International Cricket Council (ICC) zeroed upon Dubai as a neutral venue.

Here are the details: