The Indian captain Rohit Sharma has dismissed claims that Inda had an unfair advantage by playing all their Champions Trophy 2025 matches in Dubai.
India has entered into semifinals after outclassing Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand in group-stage matches in Dubai.
While speaking to the media ahead of the semi-finals against Australia, he addressed the criticism, Rohit Sharma stated that the pitches at the Dubai have posed fresh challenges in every match, making it difficult for the team to get used to the conditions.
He emphasised that while the nature of the surface remained the same, the pitches behaved differently in each game.
Rohit Sharma has reacted to pundits, including former England Captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton who claimed that India playing all their matches in Dubai without travelling was an ‘undeniable advantage’. Several Pakistan cricketers accused the ICC of favourite.
“No, look, the three matches we played, the nature of the surface was the same. But in all three games, the pitch has behaved differently,” Rohit said.
“In the semi-final, we don’t know which pitch is going to be played. Yes, we don’t know which pitch is going to be played in the semi-final. But whatever happens, we have to adapt and see what is happening.”
“We will play on that. This is not our home, this is Dubai. So, we don’t play so many matches here. This is new for us too,” he added.
“Today (Sunday), we saw that when the bowlers were bowling, their ball was seaming and swinging a little. We didn’t see that in the first two games when our bowlers were bowling.”
“And in the evening, it’s a little cold in the air. So, there are obviously a lot of chances of that swing. We know this. But the three games we played, there are four or five surfaces that are being used.”
While asked about India avoiding the fatigue of travelling between venues, but all teams had agreed to the hybrid model before the Champions Trophy schedule was finalised.
“So, every surface has a different nature. We don’t know which wicket will be played. The pitches look the same, but when you play on it, it’s played in a different way.”
“So, you can’t go thinking that we played like this yesterday, and today we’ll play like this. Every time, because of the different pitches, the pitch is giving you different challenges as a batsman.”
“We have to think about whether it’s necessary to play these shots or not. “When the bowler is bowling, we saw a little spin today. We didn’t see that much spin in the last game.”
“So, there are different things happening on every surface. So, we know what is going to happen on this pitch and what’s not.”
“Even for us, it is a little bit of a question mark as to which pitch is being played. Because there are four or five surfaces that are being used here,” Rohit Sharma added.
India will play their semi finals match against Australia on March 04 at Dubai International Stadium.
