Harbhajan questions the inclusion of Varun Chakaravarthy in the XI as Travis Head slips away: Fumes at Rohit

After a shaky start, Head quickly found his rhythm against Hardik Pandya and Shami, smashing his way to over 30 runs in no time. Surprisingly, when Rohit Sharma decided to introduce spin into the attack during the powerplay, it wasn't Varun Chakaravarthy who got the ball. Instead, it was Kuldeep Yadav who came on and was promptly greeted with a straight six in his second over.

When Head moved to 39 off 32 balls, Rohit turned to Varun Chakaravarthy. The mystery spinner worked his magic straightaway. He enticed Head and the left-hander, who was facing Chakaravarthy for the first time in an international match, went for the big shot only to sky it. Shubman Gill ran in from the long off boundary to take a good catch. India got the breakthrough but not before Head once again gave Australia a good start.

Harbhajan was critical of Rohit's captaincy, stating that those quickfire 39 runs from Head at the top of the order could end up proving to be difference.

"When you Varun Chakarvarthy, why would you wait for nine overs to bring him on against Travis Head? What's the point of having him then? The Indian team should have started with him at one end and Shami at the other. He got set, and then Varun was brought on. Those 49 runs could prove to be the difference," Harbhajan said in the mid-inning show on Star Sports.

Shami pulls back Australia

Earlier, Australian skipper Steve Smith (73, 96b, 4x4, 1x6) won a good toss, but the batters could not exploit a much smoother pitch at the DICS, throwing their wickets away through silly shots.

Throughout his stay, Smith was the pillar of Australian innings, and was involved in three 50 stands — 52 with Travis Head for the second wicket, 56 for the third wicket with Marnus Labuschagne and 54 for the fifth wicket with Alex Carey (61, 57b, 8x4, 1x6).

Australia would have been in a much better position had two of those alliances bloomed into something more substantial. Each of them fell against the run of the play and it started with Head.

India pace spearhead Mohammed Shami stood out with figures of 3-48 as Australia's innings lasted 49.3 overs. Spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets each.

ICC Champions Trophy , ICC Champions Trophy Schedule , and Champions Trophy 2025 Points Table – stay ahead with real-time match updates, team standings, and insights. Check live cricket score , player stats, and ICC rankings of top players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli . Get expert analysis, match previews, and in-depth coverage of ICC CT 2025, IPL 2025 Schedule and IPL 2025, all on HT Crickit, powered by Hindustan Times – your trusted source for cricket news along with India vs New Zealand Live Score. .freemium-card h4{color:#fff; padding-bottom:20px;} .freemium-card .freemium-content .subcTxt{padding-bottom:16px; color:#fff;} .freemium-card .freemium-content{width: auto; max-width: inherit;} .freemium-card .freemium-content .subcTxt{max-width:inherit; font-size:18px; padding-top:0; line-height:24px} .freemium-card .btnSubc{margin} .freemium-card .btnSubc a{background:#000; color:#fff; min-width:auto; padding:5px 15px; border-radius:6px; font-size:16px; line-height:22px; font-weight:700;} .freemium-card{height:285px} @media (max-width: 767px) { .freemium-card h4{font-size:28px} .freemium-card .freemium-content{max-width:360px; padding: 20px;} .freemium-card{height:303px; background-position: 100% 0; } }