India’s shocking streak of losing tosses in ODIs continued in the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final against Australia, as Rohit Sharma lost his 11th consecutive toss. This extends India’s tally to 14 straight toss defeats over two years, including three under KL Rahul.
Steve Smith won the toss and opted to bat first in Dubai, adding to India’s misfortune at the coin flip. Reacting to yet another lost toss, Rohit Sharma quipped, “I was prepared to do both. When you’re confused, it’s better to lose the toss. The pitch keeps changing its nature. You have to play good cricket.”
Despite this setback, India remains confident, having topped Group A with an unbeaten record. Australia, meanwhile, made two changes to their XI, bringing in Cooper Connolly and Tanveer Sangha. The winner of this high-stakes encounter will face either South Africa or New Zealand in the grand final on Sunday.
Playing XIs:
Australia (Playing XI): Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (w), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
