India will face Australia in the first semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
The Men in Blue head into the contest on the back of three wins on the trot at the same venue. Australia, meanwhile, won against England in Lahore and had two of its games washed out due to inclement weather.
This will be the fourth meeting between the two teams in the Champions Trophy, with India winning twice, Australia winning one game and one game ending in a no result.
ODI STATS AT DUBAI INTERNATIONAL CRICKET STADIUM
Matches played: 61
Team batting first won: 23
Team batting second won: 36
No Result: 1
Tied: 1
Highest team total: 355/5 (50) – England vs Pakistan (2015)
Lowest team total: 124 all out (35.2) – Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh (2018)
PITCH REPORT
The pitch at the Dubai International Stadium has been challenging for the batters. In 59 matches at the venue, teams have posted 300-plus totals just four times, with the last such score recorded by Pakistan in 2019.
Even in the three matches at the venue in this tournament, the highest first innings total has been 249 runs, which India scored against New Zealand in the previous game. India was able to defend this total as well, bowling New Zealand out for 204 runs. Before that, Bangladesh and Pakistan posted 228 and 241 runs, respectively, in their first innings against India.
Stats suggest batting tends to become slightly easier in the second innings in Dubai, as indicated by the average runs per wicket increasing from 25 to 29 from the first innings to the second.
The spinners are expected to play a big role on Tuesday. India’s spinners claimed nine out of the 10 wickets against New Zealand on Sunday. Varun Chakaravarthy became just the second spinner since Shahid Afridi in 2009 to claim a fifer at this ground.
However, the venue has favoured seamers more than spinners. In 61 games, pacers have claimed 486 wickets at an average of over 28 and an economy rate of 4.80. Meanwhile, spinners have been more economical at 4.27 runs per over but have taken only 342 wickets at an average of 30.
TOSS FACTOR
The toss has not been a decisive factor in determining the outcome of matches at this ground. Out of 61 games, teams winning the toss have emerged victorious just 29 times.
But given the pressure of a knockout game, the captain winning the toss might want to bat first and post a commanding total on the board.
SQUADS
INDIA
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy.
AUSTRALIA
Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Cooper Connolly, Adam Zampa.