IND vs AUS, Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal: 5 key player battles
India and Australia gear up for a crunch semi-final clash on March 4, Tuesday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. The first semi-final sees Group A winners India face runners-up of Group B Australia in what is a massive affair. It was Australia who defeated India in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Australia also defeated India in the final of the ICC World Test Championship in 2023. So looking at the big occasions in recent times, the Aussies have managed to keep their rivals under the wraps.
Coming to this contest, India have played all their 3 group matches in Dubai, beating Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand respectively. So India are familiar with the ground and what the pitch will offer. On the other hand, Australia had their matches in Pakistan. They won one and saw two matches face no result due to rain. It will be a new venue for the Aussies and it remains to be seen how they counter attack India, who are flying at the moment.
Australia already faced another massive blow, losing Matthew Short to injury and he has been replaced by Cooper Connolly. Jake Fraser-McGurk is likely to take his place as the opener to partner Travis Head. On the other hand, India are well stocked with variety. Spin threat looms large over the Aussies.
In terms of the head-to-head record, the two teams have met each other 151 times. India have claimed 57 wins with Australia winning 84 matches. 10 games have had no results.
Ahead of a blockbuster clash, we present 5 key player battles.
Adam Zampa vs Virat Kohli
Aussie right-arm leg-spinner, Adam Zampa, is a consistent force and is always amongst the wickets. He would look to be impressive against Indian talisman Virat Kohli, who was out cheaply in his 300th ODI against the Kiwis. As per ESPNcricinfo, across 14 innings, Kohli averages 52.80 against Zampa, scoring 264 runs from 245 balls. His strike rate is 107.75. However, Zampa has managed to dismiss the batter 5 times.
Versus right-handed batters, Zampa averages 26.39 from 108 innings, He owns a total of 137 scalps in this regard. Digging deeper, Zampa averages 22.82 against right-handers in Asia. Across 43 innings, he owns 63 scalps. Across 90 ODI innings, Kohli averages 62.04 against right-arm leg-spinners. He has scored 1427 runs from 1424 balls. He has been out 23 times.
Mohammed Shami vs Travis Head
Indian pacer Mohammed Shami will be pivotal with the new ball against Aussie supremo Travis Head, who has been India’s nemesis of late across formats. Shami will try to be as accurate as possible and get swing to pertrub Head, who will aim to be aggressive and take on India. Shami is yet to dismiss Head in ODIs. Across 5 innings, he has conceded 36 runs of 49 balls. 33 of these deliveries have been dot balls.
Overall, Shami has dismissed left-handed batters 61 times across 100 innings at 27.98. In the powerplay overs, Shami averages 25.40 against lefties. He has claimed 27 wickets across 89 innings. Head has smashed a total of 1294 runs from 65 innings against right-arm pacers at 36.97 (35 dismissals). In the PP overs, his average shoots up to 40.56 across 43 innings against right-arm pacers. He has scored 649 runs (16 dismissals).
Spencer Johnson vs Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma has faltered against pace in this tournament against all three teams. Aussie left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson will have his eyes lit up knowing he has a chance of disturbing the Indian veteran. Across 5 innings, Johnson averages a poor 68 against right-handed batters in ODIs. He has conceded 136 runs from 143 balls (2 dismissals). In the PP overs, Johnson averages 34 against right-handed batters, conceding 68 runs from 69 balls (2 dismissals).
On the other hand, Rohit has scored a total of 1701 runs from 1903 balls against left-arm quicks. He averages 50.02 from 133 innings. He has been dismissed 34 times. Rohit owns 973 runs at 42.30 in the PP overs against left-arm quicks from 107 innings (23 dismissals).
Axar Patel vs Steve Smith
If India go with the same team composition placed versus New Zealand, Axar Patel will come in as the first change bowler early on given the 4 spinners quartet. Axar has been economical and taken crucial wickets for India. He will have his task cut out versus Steve Smith, who, at number three, is Australia’s vital cog. Smith is also a quality player against spin. Across 2 innings, Smith has scored 10 runs off 10 balls against Axar without being dismissed.
Versus right-handed batters, Axar averages 29.18 across 61 innings, having claimed 55 scalps. In Asia, his average reads 28.53 from 43 innings. He owns 41 scalps in this regard. Smith has accumulated 1009 runs against left-arm spinners at 59.35 from 69 innings. He has been dismissed 17 times. In Asia, his average reads 46.11 from 25 innings (9 dismissals) against left-arm spinners. He owns 415 runs from 486 balls.
Varun Chakravarthy vs Josh Inglis
Varun Chakravarthy has played only 2 ODIs for India, averaging 16. He owns 6 scalps with a fifer under his belt. This came against New Zealand in the preceding contest. With his variations and mystery spin, Varun will be a tough prospect for Josh Inglis, who recently smashed a ton versus England. Versus right-handed batters, right-arm leg-spinner Varun averages 18.50 across two innings. 4 of his wickets have come against right-handers. He has conceded 74 runs from 99 balls, with 51 being dots.
Inglis owns 31 runs at 31 vs right-arm leggies across 4 innings (1 dismissal). He has faced 33 balls.
Leave a Reply