Courtesy: BCCI
India recently defeated Australia to qualify into the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The upcoming big match is set to be hosted at the Dubai International stadium on Sunday, March 9. Although Pakistan is the official host of the 2025 Champions Trophy, India has played all of its matches in UAE at the Dubai International Stadium due to security and diplomacy issues. This has led a lot of international players and cricket pundits to say that India is receiving an undue "advantage". There have been questions asked openly in the media about this to India’s coach Gautam Gambhir and also skipper Rohit Sharma.
Amidst all of this, Indian bowler Mohammed Shami has given a rather conflicting statement about playing in Dubai. The right-arm pacer has said that playing all the matches at one venue has helped India know the conditions of the pitch and its behaviour. He added, “It is a plus point that you are playing all the matches at one venue. The main thing is to gauge the conditions and know how the pitch behaves because you are playing at one venue and you can get to know it well.”
Shami’s statements could prove to be conflicting to Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma
Mohammed Shami, India’s primary pacer for the tournament after Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out due to injury, has lived up to the expectations. Shami who himself was recovering from a long-term injury has played brilliantly for the Indian side, picking up a fifer in his very first game against Bangladesh and is currently the joint-leading wicket taker in the 2025 Champions Trophy alongside Matt Henry with eight wickets in four games.
His recent statements about the pitches in Dubai and playing at the same venue for all the matches could prove to be conflicting to what Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma has said publicly. Both of them have replied to media questions about having undue advantage by saying that Dubai is a neutral venue and not their home ground, ruling out the factor of any sort of advantage.
