The stage is set for a thrilling semi-final showdown in the Champions Trophy 2025 as Group A toppers India take on a ruthless Australian side on Tuesday in Dubai. The last two times these cricketing giants met in major knockout matches, Australia emerged victorious, claiming the 2023 World Test Championship title and the ODI World Cup final. However, India, led by Rohit Sharma, enter the contest with high confidence, having remained unbeaten in the group stage.
Australia won the toss and have opted to bat first, aiming to put up a strong total on the board. The winner of this highly anticipated encounter will face either South Africa or New Zealand in the grand finale on Sunday.
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
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
Rohit Sharma: 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. We’ve played good cricket in all three games and that’s what we’ll try to do. It’s going to be challenging. We are playing with the same team. We want to continue from where we left. Now that we are bowling first, we have to bowl well and restrict them to as low as possible.
