As India gears up for their Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final clash against Australia scheduled on March 4 in Dubai, their former head coach Ravi Shastri has suggested a playing XI, which notably excludes Rishabh Pant. Shastri's line-up strongly emphasizes spin, mirroring the strategy that led to India's recent victory against New Zealand in the final group match of the competition.
Shastri wants India to stick with the same winning combination, featuring a spin quartet of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy. This selection is based on the expectation that the Dubai pitch will favour spin bowlers due to wear and tear. In the previous match against New Zealand held at the same venue, these spinners bowled a combined 37.3 overs, claiming a total of nine wickets.
Although the Indian batters scored just 249 runs in the first innings, a total that looked chaseable, their spinners wreaked havoc as the Kiwis folded at 205. Playing only his second ODI, Chakaravarthy demolished New Zealand with his 10-over spell accounting for a whopping five wickets.
“The square is a little tired at the moment, people have run on the pitch that is going to be used the day after, so the spinners will again come into play," Shastri said as quoted as per an ICC report.
“So if you bat first, put anything over 240-250, it's going to be very competitive in a big game like a semi-final,” he added.
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India Seek Vengeance vs Australia
The upcoming semi-final bout between India and Australia comes as an opportunity to the Men in Blue to settle the score against the Aussies. For the unversed, Rohit Sharma and Co. were brutalised by Australia in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023. With their dreams shattered, Team India left the tournament battered and bruised after facing a humiliated defeat at their home.
If India gets over the line this time, they will face one of New Zealand and South Africa in the final.
Ravi Shastri's India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
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