Ravindra Jadeja was in the limelight for a fair while before he struck to remove a well-settled Marnus Labuschagne (29 off 36 balls) in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy 2025 between India and Australia in Dubai on Tuesday.
Jadeja trumps Labuschagne
Marnus Labuschagne was looking in ominous touch and with skipper Steve Smith, set a strong platform for Australia on a pitch where spinners were expected to play a pivotal role before he was sent back by Jadeja, who bowled a quicker one and stuck to his immaculate line to trap him LBW. Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith had 56 for the 3rd wicket and India desperately needed a breakthrough at that stage.
Ravindra Jadeja broke another crucial partnership when he dismissed Josh Inglis to leave Australia in a spot of bother even though their captain Steve Smith held the innings together with a gutsy half-century.
IND vs AUS: Jadeja vs umpires?
Earlier in his spell, Ravindra Jadeja was forced to take off the taping from his bowling hand and moments later, was hit on the same hand. It was, of course, nothing out of the ordinary and batters are well within their rights to protest if a bowler turns up with tape on their stronger hand. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli did join the conversation between Jadeja and umpire Richard Illingworth but no words were exchanged. Soon after, Jadeja and Labuschagne were involved in a tangle but again, there was no escalation.
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India vs Australia always a hihg-octane
India vs Australia matches have tended to be fiery over the last two decades but the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final was largely played without any kind of flare-ups. Ravindra Jadeja, however, wasn’t the first to get any kind of warning from umpire Richard Illingworth, who had earlier warned Shubman Gill after he appeared to throw the ball away too soon after completing a catch to dismiss Travis Head off Varun Chakaravarthy.
This is the third ICC knock-out match where India are facing Australia since 2023. That year, India had played Australia in the finals of the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup and lost both.
Ravindra Jadeja was in fine form during India’s whitewash over England at home last month but managed to pick only two wickets in three group matches of the Champions Trophy. However, he teamed up with India’s other ace spinners to slow things down for Australia after a quick start from Travis Head before snaring the dangerous Marnus Labuschagne.
