Unbeaten India eye ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final berth against mighty Australia

Team India are all set to rumble again as they gear up for the mighty semi-final against Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

It has been a fine run by both the teams so far and this clash will be the first ODI for both the teams since their last rendezvous in the 2023 World Cup final that saw Travis Head reign supreme to usher the visitors to glory.

India have savoured a phenomenal run so far with three wins on the trot. They have hammered past the likes of Bangladesh, their arch-rivals, Pakistan and New Zealand in the final group stage fixture. More than that the Men in Blue have somehow responded very well to pressure which should be one of the key points going up against a mighty team like Australia.

Australia, on the contrary, have just faced one match so far which they have pocketed a win against England. The remainder of their games against South Africa and Afghanistan were washed away. However, Australia comes in with a reputation of being an unstoppable force in the knock-outs of the ICC tournaments, no matter how they have fared in the group stages. India’s experience in the 2023 World Cup final will also be a massive reminder for all the fans across the globe that the Men in Blue will have to find a way to keep the Aussies at bay.

Pitch Overview:

The pitch in Dubai has always been a tricky one to bat on. With a bit of spongy bounce on offer, the ball tends to stick around, thereby compelling the batters to be a lot more watchful. Spinners have also extracted a good amount of advantage from the surface, making it a tough one for the batters to unleash a freewheeling spirit of their own. This might be another modest-scoring surface which can put the batters to test.

Match Details:

Match: India vs Australia

Venue: Dubai International Stadium, Dubai

Date: 5th March, 2025

Time: 2:30 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 151

India: 57

Australia: 84

Squads:

India:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy

Australia:

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.