India and Australia will square off in the semi-final of the ongoing Champions Trophy on 4th March in Dubai.
Match Preview:
India would have a special chance to avenge the loss of 2023 ODI World Cup. Although it won’t be the same feeling, it still feels better, right? And in this forthcoming semi-final India are favourites to win given Australia are missing out key players with Short also missing out and they would be playing in Dubai, a venue which would favour the men in blue.
Australia’s absence of their whole first-choice pace attack makes the disparity between the two sides in this competition even more evident, and the conditions in Dubai further make it bigger. The quality of Australia’s lineup, especially the game-changing ability of Travis Head at the top of the order (do India ever need reminding of what he can do?), the caliber of their middle order, and the leg spin of Adam Zampa, makes these gaps less significant in one-off matches than they are over a series or a league.
Meanwhile, issues that went ignored during the group stage are now more pressing for India. How many more will Virat Kohli play? He just played his 300th ODI. How about Rohit Sharma? Ravindra Jadeja, too? After India won the T20 World Cup last year, these three left the shortest format; how long will they continue to play in ODIs? Could this Champions Trophy be their goal, or are they still aiming for 2027?
They would fervently want to bring another ODI trophy with them wherever they went. Although Kohli owns a 2011 World Cup medal and all three won the 2013 Champions Trophy, the current generation they have worked so hard to develop could be India’s greatest ODI team ever. They don’t currently have any silverware to show for it.
Probable Playing XI:
India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Axar Patel, 6 KL Rahul (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
Australia (probable): 1 Travis Head, 2 Josh Inglis (wk), 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Cooper Connolly, 6 Alex Carey, 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Ben Dwarshuis, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Spencer Johnson, 11 Adam Zampa
Pitch and weather report:
This semi-final will take place on the same field where India and Pakistan played on February 23. With one common theme, it played rather similarly to the one on which India has played their other two matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand. In the first innings of the three games, spinners have averaged 42.22 runs at a rate of 4.81 runs per over. They have gone at 4.18 and averaged 24.76 in the second.
Dubai is predicted to have a clear, sunny day with a high of 29 degrees Celsius.
Head-to-head record:
Having played each other 151 times, India and Australia enjoy a long-standing ODI rivalry. India has won 57 of its games, while Australia has won 84. Ten of their games have ended in a draw.
Prediction:
Since India has won all the games on the said venue and Australia are missing their key players, India is favourite to win the upcoming knockout clash.
Where to watch:
India: Jio Hotstar,
Pakistan: Myco, Tapmad, and Tamasha app
UAE and MENA: STARZPLAY
USA and Canada: Streaming on Willow by Cricbuzz app (Hindi coverage available)
Caribbean: ESPN Play Caribbean app
Australia: PrimeVideo
New Zealand: SkyGo app.
South Africa and sub-Saharan territories: SuperSport and SuperSport App
Bangladesh: Nagorik TV
Afghanistan: ATN
Sri Lanka: Maharaja TV
