India's top 3 bowling performances against Australia in the Champions Trophy ft. Sachin Tendulkar

In a rematch of the 2023 ICC World Cup final, India and Australia will square off in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday, March 4.

On paper, the Men in Blue are a much superior side than the Aussies who are fielding a second-string side after a host of injuries leading to the tournament. Even Matthew Short has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy and has been replaced by Cooper Connolly.

India have played all their matches in Dubai and hold a significant edge in these conditions due to their exceptional spin bowling cartel. After a match-winning performance from Varun Chakravarthy against New Zealand, it will be very difficult to drop him for the semi-final.

Australia hasn't seen much of him, barring the IPL, which could work massively in India’s favor. India will be tempted to use the same playing XI that earned them a convincing win against the Kiwis by 44 runs. On the other hand, Australia is fielding a relatively new fast bowling cartel, with none of their premier speedsters in the squad.

The spin department is led by Adam Zampa, who has Glenn Maxwell for company. If Connolly gets an opportunity in the XI, he might chip in with a few overs. Overall, there is no doubt about the fact that India has a significant advantage coming into this game. However, Australia tends to bring out their best game in knockouts so the Men in Blue will be wary of that.

Over the years, India and Australia have faced each other four times in the Champions Trophy. While India has won two of those matches, Australia have come out triumphant once while one match was abandoned due to rain.

With the semi-final approaching, let's look at India’s top three bowling performances against Australia in the Champions Trophy:

#3 S Sreesanth 2/43 in 2006 CT

Playing in the home conditions for the first time in the Champions Trophy, India failed to post a competitive score on the board after opting to bat. Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Nathan Bracken were at the top of their game and bagged two wickets a piece to restrict India to 249 in their allotted 50 overs.

India needed their bowling unit to step up to harbor any hopes of making a match out of the occasion. Adam Gilchrist and Shane Watson got the Aussies off to a flying start and it was the introduction of Sreesanth which provided India the maiden breakthrough in the form of the dangerous Gilchrist.

Sreesanth was the only bowler who looked like taking wickets and kept hitting the right channels. However, he didn't get enough support at the other end as the Aussie captain Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn stitched together a vital partnership.

Sreesanth eventually dismissed Ponting but it wasn't enough to orchestrate a turnaround for India. The Aussies eventually went on to win the match by six wickets with 26 deliveries to spare.

#2 Zaheer Khan 2/40 in 2000 CT

Known as the ICC Knockout Trophy at the time, Zaheer Khan announced his arrival in the tournament with a bang. India posted a competitive score of 265 on the board in the quarter-finals. Sachin Tendulkar’s early blitz and Yuvraj Singh’s brilliant knock in only his second match helped India post a challenging score.

Australia had a stellar batting line-up and would have backed themselves to chase down almost anything. They lost Mark Waugh early but the dangerman Adam Gilchrist was sent back to the pavilion by youngster Zaheer Khan who was just making his presence felt in the Indian team. He kept persisting with the short ball and reaped the rewards.

India bowled well in the middle overs and tightened the screws on the Australian middle order. When Zaheer was brought back for his second spell, he didn't disappoint.

Steve Waugh was expecting a yorker and made room and the length delivery ended up rattling his stumps. Zaheer eventually finished with impressive figures of 2/40 in 10 overs, playing a massive role in India winning by 20 runs.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar 4/38 in 1998 CT

The first Champions Trophy was played in 1998 in Bangladesh. In its opening year, the tournament was known as the Wills International Cup, and all the Test-playing nations took part. It was in the quarter-final clash against the Aussies that Sachin Tendulkar produced a magical all-around performance to take India through to the semi-final.

Tendulkar was scoring runs for fun in 1998 and set up the platform for India with a majestic 141 after being put into bat. He toyed with the Australian bowling attack as he did all through the year and registered yet another century. His knock ensured India posted a massive 307 in their allotted 50 overs.

With the ball in hand, Tendulkar turned the tide in India's favor by picking up four important wickets. He bagged his first wicket in the 35th over when Steve Waugh got a leading edge and offered a simple catch back to Tendulkar.

Michael Bevan then played yorker-length delivery and the writing was on the wall. Tendulkar also bagged the wickets of Damien Martyn and Brad Young to finish with exceptional figures of 4/38 as India registered a convincing 44-run win.