India captain Rohit Sharma acknowledged the possibility of retaining the same bowling combination from their recent victory over New Zealand, which featured four spinners, for the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia.
Varun Chakravarthy replaced Harshit Rana in that match and made an immediate impact, claiming a maiden five-wicket haul. The mystery spinner capitalized on the sluggish pitch conditions to stifle New Zealand’s chase of a 250-run target at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday (March 2).
With Axar, Jadeja, and Kuldeep settled in the XI and Hardik providing support, India can consider a four-spinner attack. Rohit Sharma admitted Chakravarthy’s performance has sparked discussions, calling the strategy “tempting.”
“We really need to think, even if we want to play four spinners, how we can squeeze four spinners. We’ll think about it, what is the right combination to go with. But it is tempting,” Rohit Sharma said during the pre-match press conference (via RevSportz).
“He (Varun) just showed what he’s capable of. Now it is up to us to think and see how we can get that combination right. I think he’s become more accurate now from the last time he played for India, which was way back in 2021,” he added.
“Pitch Has Varied in All Games” – Rohit Sharma dismisses advantage claims
India’s victories in the Champions Trophy have been overshadowed by allegations from some former players and fans about an ‘unfair advantage.’ Under the hybrid model, the Men in Blue have played all their matches at the Dubai International Stadium instead of in host nation Pakistan.
Addressing these claims, Rohit Sharma asserted that playing at the same venue does not eliminate the need for the team to adapt to varying conditions.
“Look, the three matches we played, the nature of the surface was the same. But in all three games, the pitch has behaved differently. This is not our home, this is Dubai. We don’t play so many matches here, so this is new for us too,” Rohit Sharma said.
“Look, it’s a great opposition (Australia) to play against. All we had to do is what we’ve been thinking about last three games. And we have to approach that game in a similar fashion,” he concluded.
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