In his opinion former Indian senior men’s cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri argues that Rohit Sharma’s team should keep their winning lineup intact for the Champions Trophy semifinals versus Australia. The team has acquired significant experience playing at Dubai through their recent 44-run victory versus New Zealand.
The cricket team of India advanced to battle Australia in the semifinal match of the 2025 Champions Trophy after their 44-run victory against New Zealand finalized Group A competition. The match takes place at Dubai International Stadium. India suffered their loss in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia at Ahmedabad after which both nations prepare to face each other for the first knockout match in 50-over cricket.
According to Shastri in his ICC Instagram video interview he recommended keeping the current lineup intact since they will face their next match within 48 hours. The ongoing match has changed the pitch condition since players ran on it and this surface will remain in use for the following game. The game’s upcoming situation will depend significantly on the victories of spinners.
India selected four spin bowling specialists Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel along with Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy to match the contemporary tempo of the Dubai pitch during their Sunday competition versus New Zealand. Together Chakravarthy and his teammates collected nine wickets and Chakravarthy achieved the most dismissals. His ten-over spell concluded with amazing numbers of five wickets at a bowling economy of 42 runs which emerged as the best individual bowling achievement of the tournament.
The team management received praise from Shastri for their decision to give Chakravarthy his first opportunity at the perfect moment. Shastri also praised the team management for giving Chakravarthy an opportunity at the right time. He said, “If you look at his current form, it’s excellent. I’ve always believed that current form is most important. His confidence and body language are outstanding. Teams like New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa are still in this tournament, but none of them have played much against Chakravarthy nor studied him extensively.”
He further added, “His performance has impressed me greatly. The team management showed faith in him at the right time. He’s a bowler who takes wickets in the middle overs, and now when given a chance, he grabbed five wickets. I think he has now secured his place in the team.”
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Shastri also mentioned that scoring 240-250 runs while batting first on the Dubai pitch could be the key to victory in the semifinal. He said, “If you bat first and score more than 240-250 runs, it will be a very challenging target in such a big match.“
