India and New Zealand have qualified for the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 from Group A. Group B is competitive, with the likes of Australia, South Africa, England, and Afghanistan battling for the top two spots. The Proteas and the Men in Yellow defeated Afghanistan and England in their opening matches, respectively. The two winning teams will now clash with each other on February 25 in Rawalpindi. Injuries, retirement, and withdrawal have impacted Australia.
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, and Marcus Stoinis are not part of the current squad. On the other hand, South Africa are balanced in all the departments of the game.
Former India player Sanjay Bangar shed light on what makes Australia the best-performing unit in the world. They have won the Champions Trophy twice, but the recent win over England was their first since 2009 in this competition. Bangar still feels that Steve Smith’s team is a force to reckon with in the CT.
“Their domestic structure of Australia is strong. Sheffield Shield, their premier red-ball contest, has limited teams, and the players who come out are match-winners. They know how to make the impossible possible.
“They don’t have Starc, Cummins, and Hazlewood, but the second-string players know how to perform. Even 350 runs are not safe in front of this team,” he said.
For the record, Australia completed the chase of 352 runs against Jos Buttler’s group.