High-flying India will be facing Australia in the first semifinal of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The game is scheduled to be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Tuesday (March 4).
India are in stunning form at the moment. After whitewashing England in the three-match ODI series at home earlier this month, India have won all of their three group games in the ongoing tournament.
The Rohit Sharma-led side will now be eyeing another win as they look to knock out Australia from the ongoing competition. Ahead of the game, we are taking a look at the India Playing 11.
India Playing 11 vs Australia- ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Semifinal 1:
Openers: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are set to be the openers in the India Playing 11 for the semifinal. Both the players failed to impress with the bat against New Zealand and will be eyeing a better display in the must-win clash.
Shubman Gill, who started his campaign in the ongoing tournament with a match-winning hundred, could score only 2 runs against the Black Caps. On the other hand, captain Rohit Sharma once again failed to capitalise on the start as he departed for 15 runs.
Middle-order batsmen and allrounders: Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja
Virat Kohli started on a positive note, hitting two fours quickly after coming out to bat. However, the former India captain failed to score big thanks to a stunning catch from Glenn Phillips. Kohli’s fierce cut was caught brilliantly with a diving effort from Phillips. Time and again, Kohli has delivered in big games for India and will be eyeing a similar impact in the semifinal.
Shreyas Iyer was India’s top-scorer in their previous game. After India were reduced to 30 for 3, he and Axar Patel steadied the ship with a 128-run stand. Iyer scored 79 runs off 98 balls with the help of 4 fours and a couple of sixes.
Axar, on the other hand, could not complete his fifty and was dismissed by Rachin Ravindra for 42 runs. KL Rahul got the start as well but did not last long. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored 23 runs before being dismissed by Mitchell Santner.
Apart from Axar, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja are set to be the other all-rounders in the India Playing 11. Pandya helped India post a challenging total by scoring 45 runs.
On the other hand, Jadeja scored 16 runs before his stay at the crease was cut short by a superb catch from Kane Williamson. All the three Indian allrounders picked up a wicket each as well.
Bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
India made one change to their bowling lineup for the game against New Zealand and it paid off. The team-management dropped Harshit Rana and included Varun Chakravarthy in the India Playing 11 and the spinner justified the call.
He delivered a Player of the Match performance as he picked up 5 wickets for 42 runs. The other bowlers in the India Playing 11 were Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav. Shami went wicketless but is expected to retain his spot in the India Playing 11.
On the other hand, Kuldeep picked up 2 wickets. India are unlikely to change their bowling lineup after the impressive win over New Zealand.
