IND vs AUS Semi-Final, Champions Trophy 2025 Match Preview,
The two biggest teams of the world are going to clash in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy-2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium today. This match is to be played between India and Australia and both the teams are in strong form. However, India will again face a problem named Travis Head who has troubled them many times before and remains a threat this time too.
Ankush Pandey
HighLights
- IND vs AUS: Australia and India will clash in the first semi-final today
- IND vs AUS: Travis Head can again become a problem for Team India
- IND vs AUS: All eyes will be on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
The two biggest headaches between India and the ICC title will be Travis Head and his team Australia. If we defeat Australia in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday, the path to the final can be easy.
The Australian team has faced Australia three times in the knockouts of ICC tournaments in the last 14 years, in which we won in the quarterfinals of the 2011 ODI World Cup. After that, the Kangaroos defeated the Indian team in the semi-finals of the 2015 ODI World Cup in Australia and the final of the 2023 World Cup in India. Australia also made India taste defeat in the final of the World Test Championship in 2023.
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How can anyone forget Travis Head's innings in the 2023 World Cup final. However, our record against this team in the Champions Trophy is 2-1. When the Champions Trophy was called the ICC Knockout Tournament, the Indian team defeated Australia in the quarterfinals in 1998 and the semi-finals in 2000. We have lost only one league match to the Kangaroos in the Champions Trophy.
We have to avoid 'Travis Head'
Be it a red ball or a white ball or a pink ball.. Travis Head stands like Angad in front of the Indian team. The statistics of the 2023 WTC Final (163), World Cup Final (137), Adelaide Test (140) and Brisbane Test (152) in the Border Gavaskar Trophy last year show how big a headache Head is for us. Against India, he mostly turns the game in his favour.
When Head plays, he gives opportunities but the opposition team has to capitalize on it but our team is not able to do so. If the Indian bowlers get Head out early, half of our problems will be reduced.
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Spinners will have to show their strength
The conditions in Dubai are in India's favor. India can also go with four spinners in this match. By winning this semi-final, the Indian team can avenge its defeat in the ODI World Cup final on its soil in 2023. At that time it seemed that the Indian team, which had won 10 matches, would win the trophy under Rohit's captaincy, but Head silenced 150 crore Indians.
However, this time the Australian team is not that strong. They do not have fast bowlers like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. However, they have the experience of Steve Smith as captain and the enthusiasm of young players. A few days ago, this team achieved the target of 352 runs against England in Lahore. However, there is a huge difference between the pitches of Lahore and Dubai.
India's master stroke
India has spinners like Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel who are capable of turning the Kangaroos for 40 overs. However, we were stuck in the trap of the old pitch in the 2023 World Cup final but there will be turn here. The pitch is slow and is also getting turn but the Indian bowlers have also bowled brilliantly.
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The Indian spin quartet took nine wickets in the league match against New Zealand. They bowled 128 dot balls in 39 overs. Even a patient batsman like Kane Williamson lost patience in front of Axar Patel and was stumped by KL Rahul. On the other hand, Australia has only one specialist spinner, Adam Zampa. He will be hoping for a good performance from irregular spinners Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head.
The Australian team was in Pakistan till now and has reached Dubai a few days ago. In such a situation, he has to adapt himself quickly to the conditions here. Matthew Short is out due to a calf injury. In his place, young spin bowling all-rounder Cooper Connolly has been included in the team.
21-year-old Connolly, who made his ODI debut against England last year, was kept in travel reserve for the tournament. The ICC tournament technical committee approved this change on Monday. Connolly has played six international matches for Australia so far, including three ODIs.
Challenge of Indian batsmen
Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma failed in the last match. Victory will be easy only if any two of these three perform well. However, Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya are in very good form. Both of them are capable of handling the team in the middle order. Looking at the conditions and weather, it seems that the Indian team will field the same team as in the last match. In such a situation, it should not be a surprise if you see KL Rahul playing again. Even if he has dropped catches in the last few matches.
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What are the strengths and weaknesses of whom?
Australia Weakness And Strength
Weakness: Australia's three main bowlers Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc are not playing in this tournament. Their absence will be felt. Matthew Short has given a good start to the team so far, but he is also not in this match due to injury. Spinners are getting help in Dubai, but the Kangaroos have only one regular spinner Adam Zampa.
Strength: Experienced Steve Smith is the captain of the team. The team may look weak in bowling, but the Australian team's batting is very strong. The main batsmen did not perform well while chasing more than 350 runs against England, despite which the team won this match easily. Travis Head has a very good record against India.
India Weakness And Strength
Weakness: The Indian team also does not have fast bowling options. Bumrah is out of the tournament, while Shami is also not in full rhythm. The entire responsibility of Indian bowling is on the spinners, but Australian batsmen Steve Smith, Travis Head and Maxwell have a very good record against spinners.
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Strength: The Indian team's batting is very good. Also, the team has many spin options, which are proving to be very effective on the slow pitch of Dubai. This is India's fourth match in Dubai, they have played all the matches here and know the conditions. The Indian team can also go with four spin options in this match, against whom it is very difficult to score runs.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakraborty.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Cooper Connolly and Adam Zampa.
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