Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has shared his predictions ahead of the India vs Australia Champions Trophy semi-final in Dubai. The Aussies have made the journey from Lahore to Dubai to play the first semi-final on Tuesday, March 4.
India have played every single match in Dubai and are well-acquainted with the conditions. Experts have opined that Dubai has been almost like a home ground for India in this tournament so far.
Meanwhile, the Australians are a different beat when it comes to ICC events. Despite them not playing to their full strength, they have found ways to qualify for the semi-final of the Champions Trophy.
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India Start Favourites - Ricky Ponting To ICC
Talking to ICC, Ricky Ponting has picked his favourites between the two teams to win the semi-final. He said that having travelled to Dubai to play India in the semi-final, they face an uphill task of beating them in the match.
"I think India are going to start favourites in this game. I don't think there's any doubt about that with what they've done in the tournament so far. The fact that they're playing in the venue that they've played their games in. They haven't had to move and travel. They've been training on those wickets all the time. Australia have rushed in to Dubai to get ready for the game" Ponting said in a conversation with the ICC.
He also further said that the Indian team has enough experienced players who will motivate the team to look beyond the ODI World Cup final defeat and the new coaching staff will ask their players not to focus too much on that defeat.
"Big games and big moments like that, you would hope that would be left behind in the dressing room there and that night, and you got to move on pretty quickly. They've got a lot of experienced players in this Indian side, a different coach as well, which might be something that means they haven't talked about it or haven't focused on it, or do they use it as motivation?" the former Australian skipper said.
India played all their league matches in Dubai and thus had no rain-interupptions. Australia, on he other hand, have had less game time on the field as their match against South Africa and Afghanistan were rained out.
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