Australia wary of India spin in Champions Trophy semifinal in Dubai

In cricket matches, powerful hitting often occurs during the aggressive powerplay at the beginning and the death overs at the end. However, Australian captain Steve Smith believes that in the Champions Trophy semi-final against India, controlling the middle overs will be the key to victory.

The Australian team will travel to the dry pitches of Dubai, which has become a "second home" for Indian expatriate fans. Rohit Sharma's Indian team is trying to use spin bowling to restrict their opponents. In their last match against New Zealand, India fielded four spin bowlers, who took a total of nine wickets, with the recalled Varun Chakaravarthy contributing five.

Despite the fact that in the India vs. Pakistan match on February 23 on the same ground, 5 out of 12 wickets were taken by fast bowlers, India may continue with the same four-spinner attack in Tuesday's game (AEDT 2000). In contrast, Australia's spin bowling options appear inadequate, so the team's focus will be on the batting lineup, which so far has scored an impressive 465 runs for the loss of only 6 wickets at a rate of over 9 runs per over.

Smith said, "The ground looks very dry, and judging from the surface, there will definitely be some spin. I spoke to the groundsman and learned that it is a very dry and heavily used ground. I think, for us, the outcome of the match may depend on how we handle the spin bowling, especially in the middle overs, how we get through that phase. It will be a challenge." Smith also mentioned that the team can adopt different approaches to the game, whether choosing to bat or bowl first, but how to deal with spin bowling in the middle overs will be crucial to success.

The Australian team has lost Matt Short, who bowled 7 overs for 21 runs in the match against Afghanistan, while also serving as an opening batsman. Therefore, they may directly include substitute Cooper Connolly in the starting lineup. Smith also raised another possibility, stating that the Australian team may field two frontline spin bowlers, mentioning Tanveer Sangha, who has excellent skills, in the team's lineup. He further added, "Glenn Maxwell is probably better than a part-time bowler, Travis Head performs well when conditions are right, and Marnus Labuschagne (who took 2-41 against England) can also bowl some overs. So, we have many part-time options, who can definitely play a role here, and of course, some frontline bowlers." When asked about his own leg-spin bowling, Smith gave a puzzled look and replied, "Me bowling? I hope not."

Smith added that the team has been enjoying their time in Dubai since arriving on Saturday, and they bet that India would beat New Zealand. If New Zealand had won, they would have had to return to Lahore. Smith said, "In the end, we guessed right. Being able to come here and have a few days to prepare is ideal. If we had stayed there waiting for last night's result, we would have had to fly here today (Monday) and play the match tomorrow without the opportunity to train or acclimatize to the environment. We made some adjustments and had the opportunity to relax for a few days outside of the strict bio-bubble and security measures in Pakistan. It's been nice to be able to relax here for a few days, do some training, some guys have played golf, and looked around. We are well prepared and looking forward to the match. We feel we are playing well. Two good teams will compete, and it should be a great game."

How to watch: The International Cricket Council Champions Trophy semi-final will be streamed live on Amazon Prime Video in Australia. Prime Video will also provide a Hindi language broadcast stream. You can follow the match through the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's sports live blog and listen to our live broadcast coverage. Australian Associated Press.