Team India continued their dominance in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy as they registered a thumping 44-run victory over New Zealand in their last group fixture at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (March 2).

With this win, the Rohit Sharma-led side finished on top of the Group A points table. They will face Australia in the first semi-final in Dubai on Tuesday (March 4), with the tournament now reaching its business end.

Ahead of the knockout fixture, former cricketer-turned-commentator Ravi Shastri revealed his preferred playing XI for India.

With a turnaround of less than 48 hours, the ex-India head coach wants the team management to stick with the same line-up.

“I think I would go with the same eleven now because the turnaround time is less than 48 hours. The square is a little tired at the moment; people have run on the pitch that is going to be used the day after, so the spinners will again come into play,” Shastri said, as quoted by ICC.

The Men in Blue posted a modest 249/9 on the board after being asked to bat first against New Zealand. Following the top-order collapse, Shreyas Iyer rose to the occasion and played a valuable knock of 79 while Hardik Pandya (45) and Axar Patel (42) made notable contributions with the bat.

Defending the total, the Indian spinners ran through the Kiwi batting line-up, bundling them out for a paltry 205 in 45.3 overs.

Varun Chakaravarthy was the wrecker-in-chief with the ball, returning with a five-wicket haul (5-42 in 10 overs) while Kuldeep Yadav (2-56 in 9.3 overs), Axar Patel (1-32 in 10 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (1-36 in 8 overs) shared four scalps among them.

Shastri backed the selection of Varun Chakaravarthy, as he said, “It’s the right time to unleash him (Chakaravarthy). They brought him into the side; he’s got a five-wicket haul, and I think he’s there to stay. If you see his current form, and I always believe in current form – it’s vital and when you look at his body language, his self-confidence and his own ability and when you look at oppositions like New Zealand, Australia, South Africa that are left in this tournament, not many sides have played too much of him or seen enough of him,”

According to Shastri, the Indian team is capable of turning it around similarly in the upcoming fixtures.

“So if you bat first, put anything over 240-250, it’s going to be very competitive in a big game like a semi-final,” he remarked.