Champions Trophy 2025: Australia win toss; opt to bat first against India in semifinal

DUBAI: Australia skipper Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first in the first semifinal of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy against India on Tuesday.

While India finished atop Group A, winning all three of their fixtures against Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand, Australia were the second-ranked side in Group B – only behind South Africa. The two teams are playing each other for the first time in a 50-overs contest since the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup Final.

While Rohit Sharma and Co. were the finished second-best in Ahmedabad that night, in their last meeting against Australia at an ICC tournament, India edged out the Aussies on their way to the Men’s T20 World Cup title.

Two juggernauts collide in the #ChampionsTrophy semi-final

India and Australia set to forge a fresh chapter in their fierce rivalry. Toss coming up in Dubai #INDvAUS LIVE UPDATES https://t.co/4jjbYvG931

— ICC (@ICC) March 4, 2025

“We’ll have a bat. Looks a pretty dry surface. The guys had a couple of sessions, ready to go. It should take turn. Very good side – India. Two changes. Cooper Connolly comes in for Short, Sangha comes in for Johnson”, Steve Smith said after winning the toss.

Men in Blue skipper Rohit Sharma said that Dubai’s pitch “keeps changing its nature”. “I was prepared to do both. When you’re confused, it’s better to lose the toss. The pitch keeps changing its nature. You have to play good cricket. We’ve played good cricket in all three games and that’s what we’ll try to do. It’s going to be challenging. We are playing with the same team. We want to continue from where we left. Now that we are bowling first, we have to bowl well and restrict them to as low as possible,” Rohit Sharma said.

Teams:

Australia (Playing XI): Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy. (ANI)