By Karan Agrawal 
India is all set to take on Australia in the semi final of the Champions Trophy in Dubai. The Rohit Sharma led side are coming into the knockout match after a commanding win over New Zealand in their last group fixture on March 2 and the thing that stood out in that particular game was the bowling combination that India played with. The Men In Blue went into the match with four spinners in the playing XI, and the move reaped rewards as Varun Chakravarthy, who was included in the team as the fourth spinner, picked up his maiden five-wicket haul. With only a day’s break between matches, there have been speculations of India going in with the same combination in the semi-final against Australia, given the fact that the Steve Smith-led side finds it challenging to play spin.
The Combination
Having said that, Indian captain Rohit Sharma remained tight-lipped when asked about India’s combination against Australia. “We really need to think, even if we want to play four spinners, how we can squeeze four spinners. If we don’t, then we don’t. Whatever works for us in terms of the bowling options, we will try and do that. The reason I say that is because the conditions here are – we are very much aware of the conditions, and we know exactly what works and what doesn’t work. So, we’ll just give it a day. We’ll think about it, what is the right combination to go with. But it is tempting,” Rohit said in the pre-match press conference on Monday.
The Plan
Talking about the possibility of Varun Chakrvarthy retaining his place in the XI, Rohit said, “Now it is up to us to think and see how we can get that combination right. He did everything that was asked for. And I said it at the post-match as well that he’s got something different about him. And when he gets it right, he knocks people over, and he takes five-five wickets. We’ll just try and assess. We just want to go back and think about what the Australian batting lineup will look like and how we can try and see what kind of bowling options will work against them.”
The Process
The Indian captain said that he is aware of the pressure that both teams will be under in the semi final, but the team that can hold its nerves and focus on the job at hand will come out on top. In the words of Rohit, “And you’re talking about the semifinal. Obviously, the pressure will be on both teams to win that game. But I think it’s important for us to just keep focusing on what we need to do, keep doing our things and keep doing those things right. And then the result will come if we keep doing the things that we are supposed to.”
The Advantage
When asked about his assessment of the pitch and about India having an advantage with them playing all their matches in Dubai, the T20 World Cup-winning captain said, “In the semi-final, we don’t know which pitch is going to be played. Yes, we don’t know which pitch is going to be played in the semi-final. But whatever happens, we have to adapt and see what is happening. We will play on that. This is not our home, this is Dubai. So, we don’t play so many matches here. This is new for us too.”