India start as favourites against Australia in the Champions Trophy semi-final but majorly because they have played as many as three matches in Dubai already and have a fair idea as to how the surface would or might play but Dinesh Karthik had a warning for the Men in Blue ahead of the big clash.
India will be up against Australia in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy in Dubai on Tuesday, March 4. The Men in Blue might have done most things right but still they will have to put in another huge effort to be able to get through to the final. Even though they are familiar with the conditions and Australia are without a few of their key players, India can’t take their foot off the gas in terms of intensity and World Cup 2023 final is still fresh in everyone’s memories to any sort of complacency to creep in.
Is there anything that India still need to worry about? Dinesh Karthik, the former India cricketer-turned-commentator, suggested that death bowling, especially if the two-time champions go in with four spinners, could be an area of concern that the opposition might look at and would want to cash in.
Speaking on the same when asked by Michael Atherton on Sky Cricket Podcast, Karthik said, “Death bowling [India’s concern, if any]. If you just go with a fast bowler and Hardik Pandya, from 40 to 50 overs, majority of the bowling will be done by the spinners and if you have two set batters there, that means they have played spinners well up until that point they can still, will be ending up playing spin a lot more through that phase.
“So they could fetch a lot, but you need two get batters batting at that stage, who have batted through some period of time to get there, then that becomes an issue,” Karthik added.
The foes are familiar but Australia have had the upper hand of late in the knockouts, especially, whether it was the 2015 World Cup semi-final or more recently the finals of the World Test Championship and the World Cup in the same year. Karthik admitted that it has been the case but reckoned if India are able to dismiss Travis Head, a sigh of relief in the Indian camp as well as amongst the fans will definitely be felt.
“It was New Zealand for a wee bit, in these knockout games they always had the better of India. But you have to say, it’s Australia at this point of time. If at all there is a team that they would think that on most days they’ll challenge India, it has to be Australia. And it’s actually what Ravi Shastri said, at this point of time the mental block is more one player than Australia itself, Travis ‘Head-ache’. He has been India’s nemesis across formats. They will be looking for that wicket because that wicket early will make them breathe a lot easier for the rest of the game,” Karthik added.
Head smashed century in both the WTC final and the World Cup final and single-handedly ended India’s hopes of winning either of them. Should India dismiss Head early, the Men in Blue will definitely feel like a monkey has gotten off their back.
