Rohit Sharma To Drop KL Rahul For Rishabh Pant? India's Probable XI Vs Australia

India's likely changes for Australia clash [Source: AP Photo]

The stage is set for the biggest match of the Champions Trophy 2025 as India will take on Australia in a riveting semi-finale battle at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India will look to avenge the loss of the 2023 World Cup final where Australia won a one-sided contest.

India and Australia, both are unbeaten in the tournament as both the sides will look to get the better off each other in order to reach the grand finale. While India do have the momentum with them, Australia have the psychological edge over the Indian side.

India have a couple of major player issues to deal with ahead of the semis and one of them is KL Rahul's form. The batter hasn't been trusted by the team management as of late and his keeping has also been below par to say the least. Will India drop KL Rahul for Rishabh Pant? Will they make any other changes?.

Should India actually make any changes?

Rohit Sharma and the team management are not known for making too many chopping and changing and with everything going according to the plan, they are likely to stick with the same XI which thrashed New Zealand. A change will only be made in case of an injury. However, we feel India should go ahead with two key changes and here's who they are.

KL Rahul to be dropped?

In the last three series prior to the Champions Trophy, KL Rahul has produced average performances and has looked shaky with the bat.

So much so that during the England tour and during Champions Trophy, coach Gautam Gambhir preferred sending Axar Patel at 5 instead of Rahul. Moreover, his keeping has also taken a hit as he dropped numerous catches in the last few Champions Trophy matches.

Why Pant should be selected?

Pant stats in ODIs

The most important aspect is that Rishabh Pant has a strike-rate of 106.21, something which could be needed against the Aussies. Just like the Kiwis, Australia are a brilliant fielding unit and India cannot afford to play too many dot balls. Here Pant's role will increase as he can take down any attack with ease.

Plus, as a keeper he has improved a lot and will be an interesting gamble for the Australia clash.

Washington Sundar over Kuldeep?

Kuldeep Yadav ODI stats

As the data suggests, Kuldeep has been underperforming since 2024 in ODI cricket. Till the 2023 World Cup, he had taken 168 wickets at an average of 26, with a strike-rate of 30. However, since 2024, he only has 11 wickets, and the average and strike-rate has also gone up.

Washington Sundar may not have the same guile as Kuldeep, but he can be used up against Travis Head as the off-break bowler generally has a good match-up with left-handed batters.

Sundar has the experience of opening the bowling in T20Is, and can use the same experience against Head on Tuesday.

India probable XI Vs Australia

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Washington Sundar/Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy

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