India vs Australia, 2025 Champions Trophy Semifinal 1: Toss result and playing 11s for today’s match, umpires list and pitch report

India v Australia: Final - ICC Men — Travis Head (right) has excelled against India in ICC knockout matches. (Image Credits: Getty Images)

Team India are taking on Australia in the first semifinal of the 2025 Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday (March 4). The Men in Blue topped Group A, with wins over Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand. The Aussies finished second in Group B. They beat England in their first match. Their game against South Africa was abandoned and the one against Afghanistan produced no result.

Based on form and conditions, India go into the semifinals against Australia as favorites. On paper, it seems they have most bases covered. On the other hand, the Aussies are missing a number of their big names like Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc among others. Australia, however, have often found a way to get the better of India in ICC knockout events.

India will be wary of opener Travis Head, who smashed a brilliant hundred in the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad. Before that, he also hit a ton in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India. The Men in Blue will need to find a way to thwart the danger he poses. They also need to ensure the likes of Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell don't get going.

Today's IND vs AUS toss result

Australia have won the toss and have opted to bat first. Steve Smith said:

“Looks a pretty dry surface; pretty dry square, so we want to put runs on the board. Seems like it would turn.”

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The Aussies have made two changes to their playing XI. Cooper Connolly comes in for injured Matthew Short, while Tanveer Sangha replaces Spencer Johnson. India are going in with the same combination of four spinners and two seamers.

IND vs AUS - Today's match 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

Today's IND vs AUS pitch report

“[There is a] gentle breeze blowing across the ground. The pitch looks bare. Bat first if you win the toss should be the way to go. But the major challenge for Australia will be how they tackle the Indian spinners. They (Indian spinners) were very accurate and bowled wicket-to-wicket against New Zealand. Average first innings score here in the competition is just 239.” - Mike Atherton and Ramiz Raja

Today's IND vs AUS match complete players list

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana

Australia squad: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson, Sean Abbott, Aaron Hardie, Tanveer Sangha, Cooper Connolly