‘Australia don’t have…’: Gavaskar pinpoints weakness in Steve Smith’s side in bold prediction for semi-final vs India

The first semi-final of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 will be played between India and Australia at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday. Ahead of the marquee fixture, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar made a bold prediction, picking Rohit Sharma’s side as the clear favourite.

India topped Group A after winning their last group-stage fixture against New Zealand on Sunday. At the same time, Australia finished second in Group B. Gavaskar said Australia will clearly miss the experienced pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.

Over the three matches against Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand, India have shown they have all their bases covered and the spinners have truly come into their own. Varun Chakaravarthy was picked for the match against New Zealand and he instantly proved his selection right by taking a fifer in just his second ODI.

Australia have been hit with plethora of injuries and the latest addition to the list is Matthew Short. Cooper Connolly has been named as his replacement. The two-time Champions Trophy winners have Tanveer Sangha in their squad, but it needs to be seen whether he gets a game in favourable conditions for spinners in Dubai.

“On this surface, yes, because Australia don’t seem to have the kind of spinning attack, apart from the fact that they are missing out on key players like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc,” Gavaskar told India Today.

“Their batting is good. The batting is very aggressive. The ideal thing would be for India maybe to chase, rather than having Australia chase,” he added.

Dubai pitch not impossible to bat on

New Zealand failed to chase 250 against India as Varun Chakaravarthy wreaked havoc, taking five wickets. In the end, the Kiwis faced a loss by 44 runs, and now the BlackCaps will take on South Africa in the second semi-final.

Gavaskar said the Dubai pitch was not impossible to bat upon as there was just little turn on offer for the spinners.

“Not at all. Well, if you had a look at our spinners in the first few overs, they did not get much help. Later on, as the pitch got a little bit better after the rolling after the dew had settled in, there was a little more grip for the spinners, but it wasn’t an impossible pitch,” he said.

“There was a bit of turn. It’s just that the bowlers did so well that it was impossible for New Zealanders,” he added.