India and Australia will renew hostilities again on Tuesday in Dubai as the two sides lock horns for a spot in the Champions Trophy final. At the all important toss Steve Smith won the toss and decided to bat first. Australia opted for two changes, Cooper Connolly comes in for Matthew Short, and Jason Sangha comes in for Johnson. On the other hand has retained their winning combination going in with the same XI that defeated New Zealand.
This is the first time these two teams will be facing off against each other in this format since Australia silenced a packed Ahmedabad crowd to become the World Champions. Travis Head was the hero on 19th November 2023 and has been a thorn in the flesh for India on several occasions across all formats.
The Indian team, too, is without the firepower of Jasprit Bumrah, but Rohit Sharma's side may have only grown stronger since that night in Ahmedabad. With more match-winners and a key X-Factor in Varun Chakaravarthy, who thrives alongside a group of high-quality spinners - Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav, the latter also an X-Factor in his own right - India's bowling depth is formidable. In ODIs, India and Australia have faced each other 151 times with Australia coming out on top in 84 matches while India were victorious in 57 games. 10 matches had no result. In ICC tournaments, India has faced Australia 18 times in ODIs in which Australia has won ten times while India has won seven times.
