India v Australia: ICC Champions Trophy semi-final preview

There is a real clash of the titans in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy when Australia take on India at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The Baggy Green finished in second place in Group B behind South Africa, having beaten England and seen their matches against Afghanistan and the Proteas lost to the weather.

India topped Group A with a perfect record, as they claimed victories over Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand, with the Black Caps also qualifying and facing South Africa in the second semi-final.

India v Australia betting preview

Rain leaves Aussies short on action

Having begun the tournament with a record run-chase in a five-wicket victory over England, Australia saw their clash with South Africa completely rained out and their match against Afghanistan curtailed by the weather.

The Baggy Green were certainly in a strong position against the Afghans, standing on 109-1 in the 13th over as they chased 274 for victory in Lahore, although opener Matt Short suffered a thigh injury and misses the rest of the tournament as a result.

All-rounder Cooper Connolly has been called up as a replacement and he may replace Short, with Jake Fraser-McGurk another option and Josh Inglis a candidate to move up the order to open the batting.

A positive of the Afghanistan washout was Travis Head blasting 59 not out from 40 balls to register a first-half century in his last six ODI innings, with the left-hander likely to be central to Australia’s hopes of reaching the final.

With the ball leg-spinner Adam Zampa says he has not been bowling at his best despite taking two wickets against both England and Afghanistan, while left-arm pacer Ben Dwarshuis has impressed in taking three wickets in both of those matches.

Conditions in Dubai could be crucial to the final outcome, with India having hinted at playing four spinners, as they did in their win over New Zealand and such a situation would certainly make left-arm spinner Connolly’s chance of playing greater.

There is little to choose between these two sides in one-day cricket, with their last ten meetings yielding five wins a piece, while Australia and India have never previously met in Dubai.

India enjoying "home" comforts

India have laid down a marker as the team to beat the Champions Trophy by winning three out of three, beating both Bangladesh and Pakistan by six wickets before bowling New Zealand out for 205 to secure a 44-run victory.

The highest total India have conceded is the 244 made by Pakistan, while they have claimed all 30 wickets on offer in the process, with conditions at the Dubai International Stadium seemingly slightly in favour of the bowlers.

Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli both registered centuries during the group stage, but even the star-studded India batting line-up found scoring tough, with only Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya striking at more than a run a ball.

Left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have played all three games and done a superb job in stifling the opposition batters, while leggie Varun Chakravarthy starred in the win over the Black Caps in taking 5-42.

Chakravarthy replaced seamer Harshit Rana for that game, but skipper Rohit is not yet certain whether that will be enough to retain his place against Australia, with New Zealand paceman Matt Henry also taking 5-42 in the match to show that there is assistance for seam bowlers as well.

India have played down talk of "home" advantage in Dubai, but that seems somewhat hollow when you consider that they have won eight of the nine ODIs they have played at the venue, with the other game ending in a tie with Afghanistan in September 2018.

India v Australia odds

India - 1.53
Australia - 2.50

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.