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Okay then! After much anticipation, the semifinal draw is out. In what is a repeat of the draw ten years ago at the Cricket World Cup, India will face Australia while New Zealand lock horns with South Africa.
It's barely been a matter of hours since India earned a hard-fought victory over New Zealand in Dubai but the schedule is such that they will be back on the park tomorrow for this critical knockout encounter. The only team to have won three matches so far, India have adapted to conditions in Dubai like a duck to water and have multiple components functioning smoothly, swelling the notion that they certainly seem primed to go the distance.
But when it comes to Australia, they are a different kettle of fish in these big tournaments. Granted that they haven't played a game yet in Dubai this tournament but the reigning world champions are masters at stepping up on the big day. This Indian side knows that better than any other after all and in a game with the stakes riding as high as they are in this one, expect nothing short of an arm wrestle.
Australia are unbeaten themselves even as two of their three scheduled group matches were washed out. One of them was their most recent duel against Afghanistan where the bowlers set things up with a fine all-round display before Travis Head blazed away in the powerplay to render the bowlers clueless. Had the game gone on a little longer, Australia may have almost certainly walked away with the two points. That wasn't to be but their objective of making the semis has been ticked off and here they are, buoyant and confident of adding another world title to their kitty.
Having arrived with plenty of changes to their initial squad, Australia have had to summon another replacement with Matthew Short ruled out of the tournament. In comes Cooper Connolly and considering the value he could bring with his left-arm spin in these conditions, he could just slot in directly for Short. Jake Fraser-McGurk is the spare batter in the side but Australia need to cover up for Short's overs too. And while they do have the all-round services of Aaron Hardie to summon, Connolly offers more for what Dubai could throw up, both with bat and ball.
Whether this means Connolly opens the batting or slots into the middle-order or not remains to be seen. Josh Inglis and Alex Carey are too valuable in the middle-order against spin which could mean the only other solution is for skipper Steven Smith to open the batting himself with Marnus Labuschagne at 3. But it can be said with a great degree of certainty that Head is the key figure for Australia against a side he has had a lot of success playing. Considering the trial by spin that beckons in the middle-overs, a well-set Head is necessary if they are to negate the Indian attack.
With the ball, Tanveer Sangha is an option on the bench should Australia pick an extra specialist spinner of their own. But if they decide to stick with the combination that has served them alright so far, Adam Zampa should front up as the lead spinner with Glenn Maxwell set to have a lot of bowling to do. Given that India's top-order has had its issues against left-arm swing, Spencer Johnson and Ben Dwarshuis could find themselves interested with the new ball. Nathan Ellis' cutters and skiddy nature could be very crucial though in the middle-overs and the death.
India have maintained a clean slate so far in the Champions Trophy with almost all of their players making their presence felt at least once. The one big question though is over whether they play just two seam options in Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami like they did against New Zealand. It's a nice problem that has surfaced thanks to Varun Chakravarthy bamboozling the Blackcaps and considering the form he's shown and the fact that picking him is one of the biggest challenges going around today, he should start in the XI against Australia.
The toss-up could then come down to Kuldeep Yadav or Harshit Rana. Kuldeep, while being India's first-choice ODI spinner for a good while now, hasn't been at his absolute best this tournament. Should India opt for an extra pacer in Rana, he could then make way for the Delhi quick's return with Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja lending depth with the bat and control through the middle-overs with the ball.
Axar could well continue batting at number 5 particularly with the Adam Zampa threat in the opposition. KL Rahul played an important knock against Bangladesh but this is where things could get challenging for him to show that he remains an integral cog in this ODI lineup. With his wicket-keeping not at its tidiest either, he will want to fare better on that front. Elsewhere, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer have been in pristine form while Pandya arrives on the back of an important, game-changing 45 against New Zealand.
As always though, a lot of eyes will be affixed on skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. While Kohli has a hundred to his name against Pakistan, Rohit hasn't converted his starts into a big one although his approach in unsettling bowlers off their lengths remains very clear. If the duo click, life ought to be smooth for India but considering the lack of clarity over whether they will be around for another major ICC event or not, this game could be one of the biggest they've played yet.
Given the conditions and the plethora of quality spin they boast of, India begin as favorites. But it's never a huge gulf when you talk of a semifinal and most certainly not one that involves Australia. There's a feeling that the current Australian bowling attack may just take to Dubai better than they did to the flatter pitches of Pakistan. And one can be rest assured that they will come out there to prove a point.
A repeat of the 2023 World Cup final with one team looking to stitch one their way as their captain said and another eager to make another final with a slightly different cast. This is a blockbuster if there ever was one! India Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana/Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy
Australia Probable XI: Steven Smith (c), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson
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