Australia’s captain, Steve Smith, won the toss and chose to bat first in the semi-final against India at the Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on Tuesday. This marks the 14th consecutive time India has lost the toss in ODI matches. The last time India won a toss in this format was in the 2023 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. After choosing to bat, Smith announced their Playing XI, revealing that Cooper Connolly would replace the injured Matt Short. The most notable change was the inclusion of spinner Tanveer Sangha.
Sangha, who has Indian heritage, comes in for fast bowler Spencer Johnson and will be Australia’s second main spinner alongside Adam Zampa. Given that the Dubai pitch is dry and expected to favor spin, both teams are fielding strong spin options.
At the toss, Steve Smith said, “We will bat first. The surface looks quite dry, and we want to put some runs on the board. The team has had good practice sessions and is ready for a competitive match. The conditions seem drier, suggesting more spin. India is a very good team, and we always look forward to playing against them. We have made two changes: Cooper Connolly replaces Short, and Tanveer Sangha comes in for Spencer Johnson.”
India, on the other hand, has decided to keep their playing eleven unchanged. Captain Rohit Sharma mentioned that they were prepared to both bat and bowl first.
Rohit Sharma commented, “I was ready for either outcome. Losing the toss when unsure might be better. The pitch condition can change. We need to play good cricket, which we have been doing in the previous games. We will aim to continue that. It will be challenging. We are playing with the same team, aiming to build on our previous performance. Now that we are bowling first, we need to bowl effectively and restrict them to a low score.”
The Indian team is wearing black armbands in this match to pay tribute to Padmakar Shivalkar, the legendary left-arm spinner of Indian domestic cricket, who recently passed away on Monday. He was highly respected for his exceptional skills and dedication to cricket.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
Australia: Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Steven Smith(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha.
