ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Ravi Shastri picks his India XI for semi-final clash against Australia

The first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will be played between India and Australia.

On Sunday, March 2, India secured a 44-run victory against New Zealand in their last group stage match of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai to march into the semi-finals unbeaten.

India will now face arch-rivals Australia in the first semi-final of the tournament in Dubai on March 4. The Men in Blue, however, have a key selection call to make before the contest.

India went with two front-line seamers – Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana – in their first two games against Bangladesh and Pakistan. However, in their last game against New Zealand, they included Varun Chakravarthy in place of Rana to play four spinners.

The selection paid off as Varun recorded his career-best figures of 5/42 to lead India to victory. Former India coach Ravi Shastri has now picked India’s XI before the all important semi-final.

Ravi Shastri picks his India XI for semi-final clash against Australia

Speaking to the ICC after India’s win over New Zealand on March 2, Shastri emphasized that India should retain the same playing XI for the semi-final clash against Australia. He pointed out that the pitches in Dubai are slightly worn out and will favor spinners.

Shastri said, “The square is a little tired at the moment, people have run on the pitch that is going to be used the day after, so the spinners will again come into play,”

The former India coach also mentioned that teams batting first will aim for a total of 240-250, which would be a challenging target to chase in a high-pressure knockout match like the semi-final.

He added, “So if you bat first, put anything over 240-250, it’s going to be very competitive in a big game like a semi-final.”

Ravi Shastri’s India XI for semi-final clash against Australia:

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (Vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (Wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami.

South Africa and New Zealand will compete in the second semi-final of the tournament on March 5 in Lahore, with the winners facing the winners of the India-Australia clash in the final on March 9.

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