Champions Trophy 2025: Even though Australia qualified for the semi-final of the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025, the players’ fitness has been a major concern for the current ODI World Champions. Before the tournament, top Aussie cricketers like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Mitchell Marsh missed their chance to be in Australia’s squad for the marquee ICC event due to fitness problems. Since skipper Pat Cummins is missing the tournament, star Australian batter Steve Smith has been leading the Kangaroos in the 15-match tournament.
Australia started their Champions Trophy 2025 journey on an impressive note after they sealed a five-wicket victory over England on February 22 in Lahore. However, their second match in the tournament was against South Africa, which was abandoned due to rain. Australia faced Afghanistan in their final group fixture, and it was a must-win game for both sides to qualify for the semi-final. However, rain again played a spoilsport, and the match ended with no result, and it was enough for the Australians to confirm their place in the semi-final berth. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s fate will be decided by the two remaining fixtures of Group B.
The game on February 28 has drawn a new headache for the Aussies as now they need to reshuffle their top batting order for their upcoming matches in the tournament. During the match against Afghanistan, Australia top-order batter Matthew Short suffered a quad injury while fielding in the first innings. However, Short still opened with Travis Head, but it was visible that the 29-year-old was struggling while running between the wickets.
While speaking at the post-match presentation, Smith said that it would be tough for Short to recover before the semi-final game. The Aussie skipper further added that they have players in their reserves who can replace the right-handed batter if he gets officially ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025. “I think he’ll 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 and we’ll be able to fill a job,” Smith said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
It is most likely that youngster Jake Fraser-McGurk, who is a part of the Aussie squad, will open alongside Head in Australia’s semi-final of the ongoing ICC tournament. In the upcoming knockout stage, Australia will face either India or New Zealand. The Aussie might also need to travel to Dubai if they face the Men in Blue in the semi-final.
