Dubai: History weighs heavily against them but India would rely on a potent spin battery and familiarity with the conditions to break the knockout jinx against an undermanned Australia when the two formidable cricket forces clash in the Champions Trophy semifinal here on Tuesday.
It will not be a straightforward task, though, as the Aussies are a resilient beast in global tournaments even without their lead cast of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.
Their stunning chase of 352 against England at Lahore a few days back validates the thought.
The last time India triumphed against Australia in the knockout stage of an ICC event was way back in 2011 World Cup quarterfinal.
India lost to Australia in the semifinals of the 2015 ODI World Cup and in the title clash of the 2023 ODI World Cup before succumbing to them in the World Test Championship final in 2023.
This Indian side will realistically hope to rewrite that largely melancholic script over the last 14 years and the primary reason for that optimism is the presence of some top of the line spinners in their ranks.
Their pre-tournament decision to fill the squad with five spinners drew a lot of flak from all corners, but it is now proving to be a masterstroke on the slow pitches in Dubai.
The easiest explanation of their dominance is the knowledge of the conditions having had the luxury of playing all their matches in Dubai. But that is only partially true. They have made an effort to tweak their craft as per the needs of the surfaces here.
Since there was no fast or spitting turn on offer here like in a dustbowl, the Indian spinners were made to play the waiting game.
Patience rather than magic is the key in bowling on these decks, as revealed by Varun Chakravarthy.
“The pitch here is not a rank turner as such, which people were projecting it to be, But definitely it was holding on a bit, and it was deviating a little bit to create the doubt. So basically, you had to play around it,” said Chakravarthy.
The Indian spin quartet of Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel walked away with nine New Zealand wickets, but they applied the pressure consistently to earn their rewards.
They delivered 128 dot balls in the 39 overs bowled between them as the Kiwis struggled to break free, a sequence eventuating in a flurry of wickets.
Even the dismissal of an otherwise stoic Kane Williamson had a touch of desperation as his shimmy against Axar ended in a stumping by KL Rahul.
On the other hand, Australia have only one genuine spinner in Adam Zampa, while hoping for part-timers Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head to deliver the goods.
Matthew Short has been ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury and it has also robbed the already creaking Australian bowling unit of a handy spin option.
The absence of premier names was felt in the previous matches as the Aussie bowlers conceded 352 and 273 against England and Afghanistan respectively, albeit in better batting conditions.
Hence, the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill will be eager to go full throttle at them here.
They have found the perfect rhythm of batting on these sluggish tracks here.
Skipper Rohit hoped as much.
“It is going to be a good game. Australia has a rich history of playing well in ICC tournaments. Now, it’s about us to do things right. We have to be focussed on what we need to do on that day. Looking forward to that, hopefully we can stitch one towards us,” he said after the match against New Zealand.
But he will not be unaware of the batting might the Aussies possess as the latter hunted down a 350-plus target without any meaningful contribution from Head and captain Steve Smith.
India will certainly want to evict them at the earliest, particularly Head as he has been the team’s nemesis in recent years.
It is also a chance for Rohit and his company to mitigate the still lingering pain of losing to Australia in the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad.
This match could be slow-burner but brace for a cracker nonetheless.
Teams (from):
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, 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, Adam Zampa, Cooper Connolly.
Match starts at 2.30 pm IST.
