India versus Pakistan may be one of cricket’s greatest rivalries, made more fierce by the political relationship between the two countries, but India against Australia has been one of the most intriguing and hard-fought duels in modern-day cricket.
It has whetted the appetite of fans like no other, producing titanic tussles between bat and ball, as seen most recently in the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Another instalment of this high-voltage contest between the two cricketing heavyweights will be held on Tuesday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium as they vie for a place in the summit clash of the Champions Trophy.
Right from the build-up to the tournament, the two outfits have had contrasting paths to the last-four stage. The Men in Blue blanked England 3-0 at home and have since extended their unbeaten run in ODIs to six games, beating all three of its Group A opponents – Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand – convincingly.
During the preliminary rounds, India further burnished its credentials as the title favourite. Almost every batter has scored valuable runs while the bowling unit – pacers and spinners alike – have contributed handsomely.
In contrast, the reigning ODI world champion has had an interesting run into the knockout stages. Steve Smith’s men have played just one completed game where they chased 352 against England to win by five wickets.
Inclement weather meant its other two games were either washed out (South Africa) or called off midway (Afghanistan) and the teams had to share the spoils.
On paper, this is a depleted Australian side without its first-choice pace attack of regular skipper Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc. Ahead of the semifinal, the team also lost opener Matthew Short, who could bowl useful off-breaks. Southpaw Cooper Connolly has replaced Short.
In terms of team combinations, Varun Chakaravarthy’s magical spell (five for 42) against the Kiwis has given the Indian team management a happy headache. It will be interesting to see if the spinner is persisted with, even if it means having just one
frontline pacer in Mohammed Shami for Varun is an unknown commodity for most Aussie batters.
The big challenge for Australia is the transition to the slow surface here in Dubai after playing on featherbed pitches in Pakistan. The batting line-up certainly possesses the ammunition to deal with this, but the spin bowling department, with just one genuine spinner in Adam Zampa, might have to rely on part-timers Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head.
As Bangladesh and Pakistan found out, the absence of a second spinner who could sustain the pressure can prove costly in low-scoring encounters. To play fellow leggie Tanveer Sangha and push Josh Inglis to the opener’s slot is an option.
Still, if there is one maxim in cricket that has currency, it is to never underestimate Australia in a big game of an ICC event. The memories of November 19, 2023, where Cummins & Co stopped the Indian juggernaut – which won all its World Cup matches till then – in the final in Ahmedabad is clear evidence of the Men in Yellow’s ability to elevate their game when it matters the most. Can Rohit Sharma and his men rise to the occasion?
The teams (from): India: Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Shubman Gill (vice-capt.), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, K.L ahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Australia: Steve Smith (Capt.), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Adam Zampa.
Match officials: On-field Umpires: Chris Gaffaney & Richard Illingworth; Third Umpire: Michael Gough; Fourth Umpire: Adrian
Holdstock; Match Referee: Andy Pycroft
Match starts at 2.30 p.m. IST.
Published – March 03, 2025 07:30 pm IST