The last time there was an India vs. Australia ODI, about 1.4 billion hearts were broken. For those who don’t remember and don’t want to either, the match was the 2023 World Cup Final. Australia was basically underdogs, perhaps for the very first time in an ICC Final.
India’s magic ODI World Cup run that ended in despair
India was on a 10-match winning streak and had hammered New Zealand in the semifinal. Throughout the tournament, India had broken several records. Virat Kohli went past Sachin Tendulkar for the most runs scored in a single edition of the ODI World Cup. Shreyas Iyer smashed the fastest hundred in an ICC knockout match (67 balls), and Mohammed Shami ended up as the bowler with the best bowling strike rate in tournament history.
It was India’s match to lose. And somehow they did lose. They were hit by an Australian side, which fielded extremely well. They planned for each player. Exploited the sluggish pitch. Then when chasing, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne did the job for them. Winning by 6 wickets and with 7 overs to spare.
Scar tissue from Travis Head thrashing
November 19, 2023. The day no one wants to remember. It’ll be India vs. Australia once again, only this time it’ll be the ICC Champions Trophy semifinal. Rohit Sharma and co. will have to battle these ghosts of the past. One can remember the looks of the faces, Mohammed Siraj crying and Jasprit Bumrah consoling him. KL Rahul was asked what moment he’ll change in his cricketing career, and he said the outcome of the 2023 World Cup Final.
One mustn’t forget that the core of the Indian team is the same. Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, and Arshdeep Singh are the new ones. Out of these, only Axar and Chakravarthy are certainties to play in the semifinal. The other nine players were part of that final. The scar tissues will be there.
Rohit Sharma & India, wary of Australia
On paper, Team India is much stronger. Australia doesn’t have Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood. But everyone seems to be wary of them irrespective. “Australia has a rich history of playing ICC tournaments,” this was uttered by Rohit Sharma after winning the New Zealand match. It clearly shows that even without many of their top players, Team India views Australia as an extremely tough opponent. Now the only question is, will they be able to rise above the ghosts of the 2023 ODI World Cup Final?
India vs Australia, ICC Champions Trophy Semifinal: Squads
Australia: Travis Head, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Spencer Johnson, Adam Zampa, Sean Abbott, Aaron Hardie, Tanveer Sangha, Cooper Connolly
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh
