Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has explained why India would prefer facing Australia, rather than South Africa, in the semi-final of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy. South Africa on Saturday became the final team to book their place in the semi-finals, joining India, New Zealand and Australia. The Proteas topped Group B ahead of the reigning 50-over world champions Australia. India will find out their Champions Trophy semi-final opponents after their final group match against New Zealand on Sunday in Dubai. If India beat the Kiwis, they will take on Australia in the first semi-final on Tuesday at the Dubai International Stadium.
Otherwise, they will face the Proteas, what would be a repeat of last year's T20 World Cup final, which Rohit Sharma and his men won in Barbados. Regardless of who they end up playing against, India will play their semi-final in Dubai on Tuesday.
Gavaskar, while speaking to India Today, said that if given a choice, India would prefer to face Australia as their bowling is slightly inexperienced due to the absence of their fast bowling trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
"Both teams are formidable teams, make no mistake. There's no such team that India will say, because now they know, they've come to the knockout stages. Here it's now make or break, so I don't think they would prefer to have any team. Maybe Australia because they've played Australia, they know Australia a little bit better than South Africa, whom they last played in the T20 World Cup 2024 final. So maybe they might prefer Australia because they are without their main bowlers. There's no Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood so maybe they would want to play them," Gavaskar told India Today.
India has drawn criticism for playing all their match at the same venue in Dubai while the rest of the teams have been travelling to different venues across Pakistan.
However, Glenn Phillips claimed that New Zealand are undaunted by playing their matches across different venues ahead of the final group-stage match against India on Sunday.
"No, for us, there's no focus on anything like that. Obviously, a tournament draw is what it is, and we have a no-excuses mindset to be able to come out to a tournament; you're dealt the hand that you're dealt, and the fact of the matter is India has been dealt that hand, and we've been dealt that hand. And we're never going to complain about what we get, and we'll just do the best with what we've got," he told reporters during the pre-match press conference.
source https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/why-india-will-prefer-dangerous-australia-in-champions-trophy-2025-semi-final-sunil-gavaskar-explains-7825681
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