Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik expressed his preference for Australia as Team India’s semi-final opponent in the 2025 Champions Trophy. Australia, led by Steve Smith, secured second place in Group B and will face the winners of Group A, determined by the upcoming India vs. New Zealand clash.
While India and Australia have frequently met in ICC tournaments, they have never faced off in a semi-final. Their last encounter at this stage was in the 2015 ODI World Cup, where Australia knocked India out with a 95-run victory.
India’s other possible semi-final opponent is South Africa, who dominated England with a seven-wicket win to top their group. Responding to a fan query on ‘HeyCB with DK’, Karthik stated that he believes Australia would be the better matchup for India in the semi-finals.
“India is actually playing well, but if given a preference I would go for Australia,” Dinesh Karthik said.
Dinesh Karthik also discussed England and Pakistan’s early exit from the tournament. Both teams failed to secure a single victory and now face the prospect of major changes amid widespread criticism of their poor performances.
“If someone would have told me that Pakistan and England will get eliminated this early in the tournament when I was young. I would never believe it because we know how strong these teams are,” Dinesh Karthik said.
India to face South Africa in Semi-Final if they lose to New Zealand
If the Men in Blue fall to the Blackcaps in Dubai on Sunday, March 2, they will take on the Proteas in the semi-final. Like Australia, South Africa remains unbeaten in the tournament, having secured dominant victories over Afghanistan and England to finish with an impressive net run rate of +2.395.
India previously faced South Africa in the semi-finals during their triumphant 2002 Champions Trophy campaign in Colombo and again in the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.
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