WATCH - Umpire Chris Gaffaney gets almost smacked by Rohit Sharma's fierce hit, India captain apologizes

India are in pursuit of 265 runs as the Australian team got bundled out in 49.3 overs during the ongoing semi-final 1 of the Champions Trophy 2025.

After hitting a few delightful strokes early in his innings, India captain Rohit Sharma took charge against Nathan Ellis, hitting a fierce boundary down the ground. The aggressive stroke by the star opener almost had on-field umpire Chris Gaffaney smacked as he found himself in the firing line of the ball. Gaffaney was quick to respond and showed super-quick reflexes to move out of the way of the ball, hit with absolute strength by Rohit in the seventh over of the chase.

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07:07 PM · Mar 04, 2025

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Also Check: Champions Trophy 2025: Semi-Final 1, IND vs AUS Live Updates

Speaking of the match, Australia had elected to bat first after winning the toss at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Opener Cooper Connolly departed early, but Travis Head made a thunderous impact inside the first powerplay, adding 39 runs off 33 balls, despite a sedated start. Varun Chakravarthy got Head caught by Shubman Gill at long off to hand India their second breakthrough.

After that, a stabilizing 55-run stand between Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne made a little comeback for Aussies into the game. Despite Labuschagne's departure, captain Smith continued his merry way, adding 73 runs off 96 balls on a slow track, tackling the tricky conditions extremely well. Stumper-batter Alex Carey, too, batted brilliantly for his 61, which propelled Australia to a challenging total of 264 where Mohammed Shami was India's hero with the ball for his three wickets.

As of writing, the match is even-steven with the Men in Blue scoring 75 runs from the first 15 overs, but also lost a couple of wickets. They need 190 more runs to win, while Australia would be looking to restrict the Rohit's batters inside their first innings' total. Both of India's openers have departed back after not adding anything extraordinary to the scoreboard, whereas Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer are currently batting at the crease.