India vs Australia: Spin choices, Head versus Shami, and the Shreyas factor

In addition to Dubai’s first innings average of 239, that figure remains lower when compared to the other cities of Lahore, and Karachi which stand at 316 and 271 respectively. The swing in Dubai during the PowerPlay has been noted as the highest from the four venues making it seam conducive. In the afternoon, seamers had full control of the game with an old ball. The pitch offered hold especially for those who know how to bowl of the pitch. Spinners have had more success in the evening where there is enough turn and significant grip on the ball from the pitch.

After Chaminda Vaas has shifted the blame of the New Zealand loss onto the batting lineup, the introduction of one more spinner or a second seam specialist, becomes critical for India’s composition. Australia has one forced change as Matthew Short is out of the tournament with an injury. Aaron Hardie could be brought in and fulfill his role as a change bowler and bring in another left arm orthodox bowler in Tanveer Sangha, taking out one of their seamers. Or they could look at Cooper Connolly as an option, who can also do some left arm spin to share the fifth bowler role with Glenn Maxwell.

The ‘Head’-ache

It is no secret that Travis Head has been a pain in the neck for India lately. Since his return to ODI cricket in 2022, no one has scored as fast as Head in the PowerPlay. His batting in Dubai will be critical, considering how tough it is to score runs when the ball gets old. He also plays very well against the Indian spin trio of Kuldeep, Axar, and Jadeja. In ODIs, he has already scored 123 runs at a strike rate of 100 and has been out once.

Stats Overview / India vs Australia: Spin decisions, Head v Shami and the Shreyas factor

Fresh pitch in Dubai for India-Australia semi-final

The very small gap in Head’s armor is early in his innings against the seamers who come around the wicket and bowl from the stumps, from Head’s point of view, seamers coming from the right. He averages 22.25 for eight dismissals against right arm seamers round the wicket in the PowerPlay, compared to 56 against over the wicket operators.

This is the angle he prefers to take while bowling to left handers. Since 2023, he has been delivering to Southpaws from this angle with an accuracy of 91%, and averages 18.92 with a wicket every 21.2 balls. In that night in Ahmedabad, November 2023, both Shami and Bumrah, during the PowerPlay, around the wicket to Head, and Shami had already deprived him of his luck with the bat 26.9% of the time. Left arm seamers have also placed Head in the similar position quite a few times and over the wicket Arshdeep has got him two times in 30 balls in T20s, while it.

How will Australia tackle the spin threat?

Australia’s dire spin bowling assult during the ODI’s in Sri Lanka, where they lost 15 out of the 20 wickets to spin, did not help their chances heading into the Champions Trophy 2025. Their chances would have further dimmed knowing the conditions of Dubai are not likely to differ from Sri Lanka. With India boasting a strong spin attack, they will have something on offer to work with.

Chakaravarthy, despite all the odds and New Zealand’s spin-heavy arsenal, extracted the least amount of turn in the game. Due to novel factors and the pace at which chakaravarthy bowls, dealing with him is tough. Smith and Maxwell will be the only two players who have any recollection of facing Chakaravarthy, with Smith remarkably coming in on 10 balls for 14 runs and Maxwell extending it to 30 balls and 46 runs with 3 dismissals.

Australia’s batting performance during the matches Dubai where they scored 102 runs being just two wickets down is quite commendable and shows that most of Australia’s batters possess good mastery of sweep strokes and their variations. However, as New Zealand discovered on Sunday, trying to play it against Chakaravarthy is as hard as it gets. Australia’s batters have to deal with some of the Indian bowlers and we know Israel’s tactics for dealing with this aggression in the middle overs is what will firmly plant a flag on the outcome in the semifinals. Read More about this sports news, Click Here