Champions Trophy: Australia take on India in semi-final

Australia skipper Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bat against India in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai on Tuesday.

The winner faces South Africa or New Zealand in Sunday’s final of the eight-nation 50-over tournament.

Australia made two changes with batting all-rounder Cooper Connolly and leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha coming in for Matthew Short and Spencer Johnson.

Connolly, who bowls left-arm spin, joined the squad as a replacement for Short, who was ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a thigh injury. However, the onus will be on Adam Zampa to lead their spin attack.

Australia won their opening match of the competition against Ashes rivals England in Lahore but their next two games in the group phase were abandoned due to rain.

Rohit Sharma-led India are unchanged from their win over New Zealand in their last group match and have four spinners in the XI.

India have won all three of their games and are playing in Dubai after they refused to tour Champions Trophy hosts Pakistan for unspecified reasons.

The semi-final is the first ODI between India and Australia since the World Cup final in November 2023 in Ahmedabad, which Australia won.

The other semi-final is in Lahore on Wednesday between New Zealand and South Africa.

With an injury-ravaged Australia fielding a depleted side, India sense an opportunity to settle a score against an opponent who beat them in the finals of the World Test Championship and the 50-overs World Cup — both in 2023.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), headed by former Indian board secretary Jay Shah, has drawn flak for allowing India to play all their matches in Dubai and receiving what many consider an unfair advantage.

While most Group A teams shuttled between two of the three venues in Pakistan and flew to Dubai for their match against India, Rohit Sharma and his men have been spared any travel hassle.

By staying put in one venue, they have gained valuable insights into the vastly different conditions in Dubai, where spinners have dominated typically low-scoring matches.

India will also be sick of the sight of their familiar nemesis Travis Head.

Head smashed match-winning hundreds against them in both the finals of the ICC events two years ago and the hard-hitting batter seems to have regained his form just in time.

In the absence of Australia’s frontline quicks, including regular skipper Pat Cummins, stop-gap captain Steve Smith will be banking on his second-string pace attack to make early dents in India’s batting lineup.

India’s four-pronged spin unit claiming nine of the 10 New Zealand wickets on Sunday while successfully defending 249-9 was a fair indication of the turn on offer in Dubai.

Varun Chakravarthy, India’s fourth spinner, claimed 5-42 in his Champions Trophy debut leaving skipper Rohit with “a good headache“.

“I don’t think I’m bowling quite at my best but I like to think the beauty about me, when I’m not quite at my best and not feeling that great out there, is my ability to still contribute and take those big wickets,” leg-spinner Zampa said in the lead up to the match.

Teams

Australia: Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Steven Smith (capt), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha.

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.

Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Richard Illingworth (ENG) TV Umpire: Michael Gough (ENG) Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (RSA)

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