Who: India vs Australia
What: ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal
Where: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
When: Tuesday, March 4 at 1pm (09:00 GMT)
Follow Al Jazeera Sport’s live text and photo commentary stream.
India face Australia on Tuesday in the first semifinal of the Champions Trophy – a matchup that pits the favourites for the one-day international (ODI) competition against the 50-over world champions.
Indeed, the game is a repeat of the final of the 2023 Cricket World Cup, in which the Australians upset the odds to beat the hosts India in the final in Ahmedabad.
Does India’s Dubai location give them the edge?
India captain Rohit Sharma dismissed suggestions that they have had an unfair advantage by being allowed to play all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai.
India refused to tour Pakistan for the tournament because of the strained political relations between the bitter neighbours, who play each other only in multi-team events.
The International Cricket Council (ICC), which has former Indian board secretary Jay Shah as its current chairman, has been criticised for obliging the game’s financial engine by letting India camp in Dubai.
While other teams shuttled among three Pakistani cities and Dubai, India did not face any travel hassle and gained valuable insights into the conditions in Dubai, having played all three group matches here.
Rohit denied they held any advantage and said surfaces at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium behaved differently.
“There are four or five surfaces that are being used and every surface has a different nature,” the opener said ahead of Tuesday’s semifinal against Australia.
“The pitches look the same, but when you play on it, it has played in a different way. So, you can’t go thinking ‘We played like this yesterday, and today we’ll play like this’.
“We don’t know which pitch is going to be played in the semifinal. But whatever happens, we have to adapt and see what is happening.
“This is not our home; this is Dubai. We don’t play so many matches here. This is new for us, too.”
India are unbeaten in this year’s tournament, but Rohit predicted a tough contest against Australia, who prevailed in their last encounter – the final of the 2023 World Cup.
“Look, Australia have been such a great team over the years,” said Rohit.
“So we will expect some fightbacks, we will expect some nervy times as well in the middle.
“But that is how the game is being played these days. And you are talking about a semifinal.”
Can Australia’s spinners come to the party in the semifinal?
Australia spinner Adam Zampa says he is below his best at the Champions Trophy, but will still be ready to take big wickets in the semifinal.
Zampa took 2-48 in the washed-out group match against Afghanistan and 2-64 in the five-wicket win over England in Lahore, Pakistan to help Australia reach the last four of the ODI tournament.
The 32-year-old leg spinner may be key to Australia’s hopes of victory in Dubai, where India won their three group matches on spin-friendly wickets.
“Personally, I don’t think I’m bowling quite at my best, but I like to think the beauty about me, when I’m not quite at my best and not feeling that great out there, is my ability to still contribute and take those big wickets,” Zampa said.
“So, yeah, [I am] obviously working on some stuff at the moment to hopefully get back to my best.
“But as I said, the ability to still do a job for the team and get those big wickets is still there, which to me is really important.”
What have been the team movements ahead of the semifinals?
The Australia squad flew from Lahore to Dubai on Saturday despite knowing they might need to fly back to Pakistan for the second semifinal depending on the result of the India-New Zealand group match.
India duly beat New Zealand by 44 runs on Sunday to ensure Australia’s early trip to Dubai was worth it.
South Africa, however, were forced to travel back to Pakistan for the second semifinal against New Zealand in Lahore on Wednesday.
The ICC has come under fire over the scheduling but Zampa was not complaining.
“Obviously we had a bit of a hectic schedule playing a couple of games in Pakistan, back and forth in between cities,” he said.
“It’s kind of nice to get here. We’ve got a great facility here at the ICC Academy, changes it up a little bit as well, so yeah, the boys are feeling OK about it.”
What are India’s and Australia’s records in the Champions Trophy?
India have twice claimed victory in the Champions Trophy, in 2002 and 2013, but lost the final to Pakistan in the last edition. Australia beat the West Indies in the 2006 final, before defending their crown against New Zealand in 2009.
India team news
India went in with four spinners including two all-rounders in their last group match in Dubai and came up trumps with Varun Chakravarthy returning figures of 5-42.
Rohit said he will be tempted to keep the same combination against Australia.
“He just showed what he is capable of,” Rohit said of man of the match Chakravarthy, a wrist spinner with many variations up his sleeve.
“Now it is up to us to think and see how we can get that combination right. He did everything that was asked for … it is a good headache to have.”
India were dealt a blow ahead of the tournament when the ICC’s Men’s Cricketer of the Year Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out by the bowler’s prolonged injury-related issues.
Australia team news
Australia have moved to cover for Matt Short, who has been ruled out due to a left quadriceps injury, with all-rounder Cooper Connolly approved as a replacement in the squad.
Left-arm spinner Connolly will help cover the loss of Short’s off-spin if the 21-year-old is selected against India. But the onus will be on Adam Zampa to lead their spin attack.
The world champions lost fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood to ankle and hip injuries respectively for the Champions Trophy. They are also without Mitchell Starc, who is out for personal reasons.
Mitchell Marsh is also absent with an injury, while Marcus Stoinis announced his retirement on the eve of the tournament.
Form guide – India
Victories in both matches so far will have come as a huge boost to an Indian side that have had limited one-day international cricket since the 2023 Cricket World Cup final.
The 3-0 series whitewash against England on the eve of the tournament was a huge boost following the 2-0 defeat in the three-match series against Sri Lanka last August.
Form guide – Australia
Australia arrived at the Champions Trophy on the back of two ODI series losses, including a whitewash away to Sri Lanka, but they turned things around in their opening game against old rivals England, before a washout against South Africa and a victory against Afghanistan.
Last five ODI matches
India: W W W W W
Australia: L L W NR W
When and where will the second semifinal be played?
The second semifinal – between South Africa and New Zealand – will be played in Lahore on Wednesday.
When and where will the final be played?
The final is scheduled to be played in Lahore on March 9.
Should India reach the final, however, the match will be switched to Dubai.
India squad:
Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakravarthy.
Australia squad
Squad: Steve Smith (captain), Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), Cooper Connolly, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wicketkeeper), Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Spencer Johnson, Tanveer Sangha.
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2025/3/3/icc-champions-trophy-2025-india-vs-south-africa-start-time-teams-stream-preview-cricket?traffic_source=rss
