Australia make late squad change ahead of Champions Trophy semis with all-rounder Matt Short ruled out

Australia will be up against India in the first semi-final of the ongoing Champions Trophy but they had another injury concern to be taken care of in the lead up with opener Matt Short ruled out due to a quad injury. Short sustained an injury during Australia’s final Group B clash against Afghanistan and captain Steve Smith suggested that it didn’t look and that the two-time champions might have to look for a change and just before their semi-final clash, the right-handed batter was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament.

Cooper Connolly, the left-arm spinning all-rounder, replaced Short in the squad. Connolly was the only travelling reserve with the main squad for Australia and will now be needed for the sharp end of the tournament.

“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,” Smith had said after the Afghanistan clash. Australia won their campaign-opening game against England and had a couple of their matches washed out. Australia finished in second place with four points in Group B.

Australia had already flown to Dubai on Saturday not knowing where and against whom they would play their semi-final clash before it turned out to be an inspired call as they would be up against India, who will play all of their matches in Dubai including the semis and the final, if the Men in Blue make it that far. However, the situation wasn’t ideal for South Africa, who too flew out to Dubai to now only return to Lahore in order to get themselves ready for the semi-final against New Zealand.

Australia’s squad for Champions Trophy 2025: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Spencer Johnson, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Adam Zampa, Cooper Connolly