Dubai Weather Today, India vs Australia: Champions Trophy Semi-final 1, IND vs AUS Match Rain Forecast And Pitch Report

Dubai Cricket Stadium Weather Today: Against a depleted Australia at their disposal, India will be gunning for revenge when the familiar foes clash in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy on Tuesday.

With an injury-ravaged Australia fielding a depleted side, India sense an opportunity to settle a score against an opponent who beat them in the finals of the World Test Championship and the 50-overs World Cup - both in 2023.

In absence of Australia's frontline quicks, including regular skipper Pat Cummins, stop-gap captain Steve Smith will be banking on his second-string pace attack to make early dents in India's batting lineup.

Dubai Weather Today, India vs Australia: Champions Trophy Semi-final 1, IND vs AUS Match Rain Forecast And Pitch Report

The Dubai International Cricket Stadium has presented a challenging surface for batters, unlike some of the more batter-friendly pitches in Pakistan. As matches progress, batting becomes significantly tougher due to the softening of the ball, making stroke play difficult against both spinners and seamers who effectively use slower deliveries. Teams batting first will need to find the right balance between attack and defence, a strategy that Bangladesh and Pakistan failed to execute when they batted first in Dubai.

Temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C on Sunday, as per the AccuWeather app. The pitch has shown variable behavior—during India's game against Bangladesh, it slowed down considerably in the second innings, but when India played Pakistan, the surface actually quickened in the evening.

With no significant dew factor in either of India's previous matches, the toss decision will be tricky for the captain. It remains to be seen whether batting first or chasing will be the preferred option, as the pitch conditions continue to vary from game to game.

Squads

India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana

Australia Squad: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Travis Head, Steven Smith(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson, Sean Abbott, Aaron Hardie, Tanveer Sangha, Cooper Connolly