Australia or South Africa? Sunil Gavaskar openly reveals India's favourable opponent for Champions Trophy semi-final

Team India has already made it to the semi-finals of the ongoing Champions Trophy but the bigger question remains - Who will they face in the semis? Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has shed light on India's preference and also revealed the reason behind it.

Sunil Gavaskar opened up on the strengths and weaknesses of both Australia and South Africa. He feels that both the teams are strong enough and will pose a significant challenge to the Men in Blue in a high-intensity knockout clash.

India will face either Australia or South Africa in their semi-final clash. Their opponents will be decided after the result of the final group stage match of the tournament between India and New Zealand on March 2.

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Sunil Gavaskar speaks on India's preference for semi-finals

During a conversation with India Today, Sunil Gavaskar admitted that both Australia and South Africa are "formidable" but India might prefer Australia more because they have played them a lot in recent times.

“Both teams are formidable teams, make no mistake. There’s no such team that India will say, because now they know, they’ve come to the knockout stages. Here it’s now make or break, so I don’t think they would prefer to have any team,” Sunil Gavaskar noted.

“Maybe Australia because they’ve played Australia, they know Australia a little bit better than South Africa whom they last played in the T20 World Cup 2024 final,” he added.

India and Australia have played each other quite a few times in recent past. Most recently, the teams squared off against each other in the Test series in Australia where the hosts won 3-1.

Although the format is different, players like Travis Head, Steve Smith, Alex Carey, and Marnus Labuschagne are part of both the teams and the Men in Blue will be aware how to bowl to them.

Sunil Gavaskar gives another reason to prefer Australia

While speaking further in the conversation, Sunil Gavaskar gave another reason to prefer Australia over South Africa. He believes that Australia are playing without their three first-choice fast bowlers, which make them weaker in the bowling department

“So maybe they might prefer Australia because Australia are without their main bowlers. There’s no (Mitchell) Starc, (Pat) Cummins, and (Josh) Hazlewood so maybe they would want to play them,” the former India opener reckoned.

The absence of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood was a big blow to Australia's hopes for this tournament. However, they have still managed to qualify for the semi-finals without losing a game so far.

In the absence of Starc, Cummins, and Hazlewood, the three frontline quicks for Australia are Spencer Johnson, Ben Dwarshuis, and Nathan Ellis with Sean Abbott the reserve seamer in the squad.

IND vs NZ to decide semi-final fixtures

South Africa topped Group B after defeating England in a one-sided encounter in Karachi on March 1. The Proteas have been highly clinical in the tournament so far and have a balanced team capable of going all the way.

Meanwhile, Australia defeated England by chasing down a target of more than 350 runs in their first game of the tournament. However, their next two games were washed out due to rain. They looked on course to defeat Afghanistan in their final group match but rain played spoilsport.

India and New Zealand will face each other at Dubai in the final group stage match of the tournament. The winner of this match will face Australia in the semi-final while the loser will face South Africa in the other semi-final.