'New ball and give it to...' - Ravichandran Ashwin's special suggestion to Rohit Sharma for first semi-final against Australia

The unbeaten and dominant Team India will take on the defending ODI World Cup champions, Australia in the first semi-final of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025. India are coming off with three successive wins in their three league matches against Bangladesh, Pakistan, and New Zealand, respectively.

The Men in Blue will aim to beat Australia in this knockout game to enter the final of the tournament’s ongoing ninth edition.

Meanwhile, the former legendary India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin came up with a special piece of advice for the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to execute in the semi-final against Australia. 

“Varun Chakravarthy with a new ball” – Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin suggested Rohit Sharma make some bold decisions while picking the perfect choice to bowl with the new ball to Australia’s star in-form opener Travis Head in the powerplay.

“New ball and give it to Varun, and ask him to bowl over the stumps to Travis Head. Head shows all his three stumps and then clears his leg and hits it over the field. Varun Chakravarthy, with a new ball, might give India an edge. It will be a mouth-watering contest,” said Ashwin in a video on his YouTube channel.

“I would be very surprised if Travis Head would take on a back seat against Varun. He would love to go aggressive, and it will be a high-risk option. Either he will give Australia a good start, or India will get him out cheaply. If Travis Head doesn’t take him on, then keep Varun on for five overs,” he added later. 

Indian team management is expected to go ahead with the same playing XI in the first semi-final against Australia. The reason behind this will be the spin-friendly nature of the pitch of the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. 

Here’s a look at India’s Predicted Playing XI for the Semi-Final against Australia:

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Varun Chakaravarthy.