Australia on the verge of being knocked out of Champions Trophy 2025 after losing superstar to injury

Australia opener Matthew Short is likely to miss his team's semi-final fixture of the ongoing Champions Trophy. Short suffered a thigh injury during Australia's final group stage match against Afghanistan in Lahore.

Matthew Short's absence will affect Australia's batting combination as he has been their preferred opener alongside Travis Head. The Aussies have qualified for the semi-final after the match against Afghanistan was washed out.

Kangaroos will play either India or New Zealand based on the result of the match between England and South Africa in Karachi on Saturday (March 1). If they play India, their semi-final will be on March 4 and if it is New Zealand, their semi-final will be played on March 5.

Also read: Revealed - How Afghanistan can qualify for Champions Trophy semi-final after Australia match?

Matthew Short ruled out of CT 2025 semi-final

Steve Smith revealed that Matthew Short is not looking in great shape and might need some more time to be fully fit. However, he is confident that the Aussies have enough players in the squad who are capable of replacing Short in the semi-final.

“I think he (Matthew Short) will be struggling. I think we saw tonight he wasn’t moving very well. I think it’s probably going to be too quick between games for him to recover. We’ve got a few guys there to come in to fill a job,” Smith was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Short has been one of the consistent players in Australian domestic cricket, due to which he got a chance to partner Travis Head at the top in white-ball cricket. He replaced David Warner at the role, who retired after the T20 World Cup 2024 last year.

Matthew Short in CT 2025

M Short played a key role in Australia's thrilling win over England in the first match of the tournament in Lahore. The right-hander scored 63 off 66 balls with 9 fours and 1 six and helped his team lay a solid platform for the upcoming batters to follow.

He played this knock under tremendous pressure as Australia had already lost two of the seniormost batters, Travis Head and Steve Smith, cheaply in their pursuit of the target of 352 runs to win the match.

In the last match against Afghanistan, Short scored a quickfire 20 off 15 balls with 3 fours and 1 six. He scored these runs with an injury, and he struggled to stay at the crease for a long time, and focused on playing in a counter-attacking style.

Along with his batting, Short is also a capable off-spin bowler. He can bowl useful overs during the middle phase and also showed his worth against Afghanistan, returning figures of 0-21 in 7 overs.

Who will replace Matthew Short in Australia?

With Matthew Short unavailable, Jake Fraser-McGurk is the likeliest option to replace him at the top. Fraser-McGurk can score quickly at the top and can take the game away with his aggressive style.

The youngster hasn't had a great start to his career with plenty of low scores but he has the talent to play knocks that can impact a game. With Head and Fraser-McGurk opening, The Aussies will go with an ultra-aggressive batting approach in the semi-final.

While Fraser-McGurk can be a dangerous batter at the top, he doesn't provide the team with a bowling option. Left-arm spin bowling allrounder Cooper Connolly is also an option who can replace Short in the Playing XI.