ICC Champions Trophy 2025 First Semi-Final India vs Australia – A Tough Battle Ahead!
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India and Australia have secured their spots in the semi-finals, and many of you might be wondering: How strong is Australia this time? Usually, when facing Australia, we hesitate to call India the favorite, but this time, things are a little bit different.
New Zealand was one team that could have given India a tough challenge on this Dubai pitch. They had quality spinners who could bowl for 25 to 30 overs and batters who could unsettle Indian bowlers. But if even New Zealand couldn’t defeat India on this pitch, imagine how challenging it would be for Australia.
Australia’s biggest challenge is that their key fast bowlers—Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood—are not playing. This means that half of their main team is missing.
Currently, Australia has only one top-quality spinner, Adam Zampa, and they might use Glenn Maxwell as the second spinner. On the other hand, India has four quality spinners, making them stronger in these conditions.
But right now, they have a shrud captain in the form of Steve Smith. We all know how big a cheater he is. He was banned for 12 months from all international and domestic cricket for a ball tempering issue. He just wants to win by hook or by crook; not only he each and every Australians cannot swallow defeat.
They will play mind games on and off the field.
Australia arrived in Dubai yesterday and started their practice while India was playing its match against New Zealand. Sources say that instead of focusing on fast bowlers, Australia mainly practiced against spin bowling. They trained against bowlers who bowl like Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel. However, they struggled to find a mystery spinner like Varun Chakravarthy, which has made them a bit nervous.
Australia has a strong history in ICC tournaments, especially in finals. Whether it was the World Test Championship final or the ODI World Cup final, they have always managed to defeat India. However, their record in semi-finals and knockout matches (other than finals) is not as strong.
Since becoming India’s captain, Rohit Sharma has lost only one ICC white-ball match—on November 19, in the ODI World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad. Although nothing can make up for that loss, Rohit and his team will be highly motivated to knock Australia out of this tournament. If they manage to eliminate them in the semi-final, it will give them some satisfaction.
Given the pitch conditions, India should have an easier path to the final. However, Australia’s performance in ICC tournaments cannot be underestimated. They were not considered favorites in this tournament, yet they managed to eliminate England and Afghanistan—two teams that experts had predicted to advance because of their spin-friendly conditions.
Will India Make Any Changes to the Team?
I feel that India might not make any changes looking at the pitch condition and winning combination. Will they replace Varun Chakravarthy with a fast bowler like Harshit Rana? Will Rishabh Pant replace KL Rahul?
They should go with the same team, it is not good to disrupt the winning combination. This is what I think.
There isn’t much time left before the match, and it seems unlikely that India will make major changes.
Both the teams probable playing 11 for tomorrow high voltage first semi-final of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai is as below:
India Probable Playing XI
1. Rohit Sharma
2. Shubhman Gill
3. Virat Kohli
3. Shreyas Iyer
5. Axar Patel
6. KL Rahul
7. Hardik Pandya
8. Ravindra Jadeja
9. Mohammad Shami
10. Kuldeep Yadav
11. Varun Chakravarthy
Australia Probable Playing XI
1. Matthew Short
2. Travis Head
3. Steve Smith (c)
4. Marnus Labuschagne
5. Josh Inglis (wk)
6. Alex Carey
7. Glenn Maxwell
8. Ben Dwarshuis
9. Nathan Ellis
10. Adam Zampa
11. Spencer Johnson
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