India wary of depleted Australia ahead of Champions Trophy semis

A buoyant India are braced for the stern test against a depleted-but-dangerous Australia as the two giants face off in the Champions Trophy semi-final in Dubai on Tuesday.

Both the teams are coming into the match on an unbeaten streak and will look to seal a spot in the title showdown with a win in the semi-final.

The Indian skipper warned his boys ahead of the big games to be ready for a tough test against Australia, who are missing some of the key players yet pose a threat. Rohit urged team India to expect some nervy time and fight-backs out there in the middle.

“Australia have been such a great team over the years. So, we will expect some fight-backs and some nervy times in the middle. But, that is how the game is being played these days. And you are talking about a semi-final,” said Rohit in a press conference in Dubai.

Australia look depleted on paper but they have put up a very strong performance in the tournament so far. Their bowling attack has become weakened as five of their top players pulled out due to some reason or the other.

Australia lost fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood to niggling injuries. Mitchell Starc pulled out due to personal reasons, which he has not disclosed.

Mitchell Marsh has also been ruled out of the tourney with an injury and Marcus Stoinis surprisingly announced his retirement on the eve of the Champions Trophy.

Rohit also played down talk that playing at one venue gives them the advantage over the others.

India are being criticised for playing all their matches at one venue, which is saving them the tiredness of travelling and adjusting to the conditions of the ground.

At the same time, the other teams are shuttling among the venues in Pakistan and are travelling to the UAE. India refused to play in Pakistan because of the political tension between the South Asian giants.

“Even we are not aware which pitch will be used for the semi-final. There are four to five turfs which are being used for different matches and we also have to adapt according to the pitch,” informed Rohit.

India refused to play in Pakistan, citing security as the reason. The Indian government denied permission to its cricket team to travel to Pakistan.

The cricketing ties between the two countries have been snapped for a long time. Before, it was limited to the bilateral series but, of late, India have refused to play Pakistan in ICC tournaments also in Pakistan.

Pakistan travelled to India to play in the 2023 World Cup, which India lost to Australia in Ahmedabad in the final. Pakistan last played a bilateral series in 2012-13 in India.

Due to India’s refusal to play in Pakistan, both South Africa and Australia had to travel to the UAE to play in the semi-final. If India had lost the match against New Zealand they would have played with South Africa who finished on the top of their group. But, with India winning their last match against New Zealand, South Africa flew back to Pakistan without playing a single ball in the UAE.

India named a spin-heavy squad for the Champions Trophy. They played with four spinners against the New Zealand. The quartet of Indian spinners, led by Varun Chakravarthy, ripped through the New Zealand batting line-up as they shared nine wickets among them and bowled almost 40 overs combined.

Rohit praised Varun for his stellar performance and said it is a good headache to have on the selection of the playing eleven.

“He has shown what he is capable of doing. Now it is up to the management to think and see what can be done to get the combination right. He did everything that we asked for. Actually, It is a good headache to have,” said the Indian skipper about the selection of the team.

Varun wreaked havoc and returned with a figure of 5/42 to steer India to their third victory on the trot. Varun is renowned for his variations.

Meanwhile, Australia will pin hopes on their part -time spinners apart from Adam Zampa. Glenn Maxwell, a hard-hitting and reliable middle-order batsman – along with Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne is set to discharge the duty for Australia.

“We’ve got to counter that. We’ve got a few options of ways we can go about it. We’ve got a lot of part-time options that could certainly play a role here and a couple of front-liners as well,” said Australian captain Setve Smith.