India went with four spinners in their last group stage fixture against New Zealand, as Varun Chakravarthy took a match-winning five-wicket haul after playing his first game in the Champions Trophy 2025. India skipper Rohit Sharma has conceded that it is tempting to play four spinners in semis too.
India captain Rohit Sharma is tempted to go with a four-man spin attack in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy 2025 against Australia after Varun Chakravarthy’s exploits against New Zealand. Chakravarthy made his Champions Trophy debut in India’s last group stage game against the Kiwis and picked up a five-wicket haul while also becoming the Player of the Match for his figures of 5/42.
India faced New Zealand in their final league stage fixture, where they went with four spinners – Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Varun, alongside two pace options in Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya.
The Men in Blue are now set to face Australia in the semifinal of the tournament after finishing as table toppers in Group A. Ahead of the semifinal, Rohit stated that the think tank will have to make a selection call about the Playing XI but is tempted to go with four spinners.
“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 said on the eve of the match against the Aussies.
“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.
Rohit brushes aside talks of unfair advantage
There have been talks of India getting an unfair advantage as they are playing at a single venue in Dubai. However, India skipper Rohit brushed aside those claims, saying that Dubai is new for them too as they have not played many games there.
“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 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 added on the advantage claims.
