DUBAI – Australia decided to bat first against India in the first semi-final match of the ICC Champions trophy at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Australia made two changes in its squad who have bolstered their spin attack bringing in Connolly and Sangha while India are playing the same team.
“The guys had a session at the academy are we are ready to go. The pitch looks dry and should take some turn. Very good side, India and we like coming up against them. We got two changes. Cooper Connolly comes in for Matt Short and Tanveer Sangha comes in for Spencer Johnson,” said Steve Smith after winning the toss.
Rohit Sharma, however said, “I was prepared to do both. The wickets have played differently. When you are in two minds it is better to lose the toss,”.
He said that they have played three games at this ground, and each time they played, it has something different. The pitch keeps changing its nature. Each pitch has its own way. The slower bowlers have been great. That is why we are going with the same team.
The first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is being played in Dubai today while the second semi-final will be played in Lahore tomorrow.
Playing XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Australia: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Cooper Connolly.
