‘I’m not buying into it’ – Smith sidesteps India’s ‘home’ advantage
While Steve Smith was unwilling to comment on claims India have been handed an advantage by conducting their entire Champions Trophy campaign in Dubai, he conceded their bowlers are well suited to the worn surface on which the tournament final will now be played.
India completed a clinical pursuit of Australia’s 264 to win last night’s semi-final by four wickets with 11 balls to spare with veteran Virat Kohli (84 off 98 balls) and keeper K L Rahul (42no off 34) starring with the bat.
But India’s refusal to play matches in the tournament’s host nation Pakistan due to security concerns remains a talking point given the final against either South Africa or New Zealand will now be staged in Dubai rather than Lahore.
While only three-and-a-half hours’ flying time separates the two cities, Smith noted the playing conditions at the respective venues are worlds apart with Dubai’s heavily trafficked centre wicket block tailor-made for India’s bowling line-up.
“I’m not buying into it,” Smith said post-game when asked about the significance of India being based in Dubai when the rest of the tournament took place in Pakistan.
“India obviously played some really good cricket here.
“The surface kind of suits their style with the spinners that they’ve got and the seamers that they have at their disposal for a wicket like that.
“They played well, they outplayed us and they deserve the victory.”
With the UAE-based ILT20 competition played immediately prior to India taking up residence for the Champions Trophy, the pitch at Dubai International Stadium is well worn and batting has proved tough with Australia’s 264 the highest first innings total posted there in the tournament to date.
The fact India were able to chase it down was a testament to their batting strength and, aided by three crucial dropped catches by Australia in the field (including Kohli on 51), they were always in control of the pursuit.
Smith said Australia’s loss of regular wickets early in their batting innings meant they were unable to post a total around 300 which he believed would have challenged India on their adopted home patch.
“It’s clearly not the easiest wicket to bat on,” Smith said.
“The square block as a whole I think has seen a lot of cricket over the last couple of months.
“We can see it’s pretty tired and that’s probably the reason why we haven’t seen a score above 300 in the tournament here so far.
“So we did a reasonable job but we probably just lacked a couple of those partnerships just dragging out a little bit further to get us up somewhere near 300 or just above.”
Had India not reached the final, the decider would have been staged on Sunday at Lahore’s Gadaffi Stadium where the average score for completed innings throughout the Champions Trophy has been around 325.
However, the winner of tonight’s second semi-final between the Black Caps and Proteas at Lahore will instead have three days to adjust to the vastly different conditions in Dubai.
The challenge there is not only India’s spin quartet of Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja but also ‘skiddy’ seamer Mohammed Shami who was his team’s most successful bowler against Australia with 3-48.
Asked to compare the contrasting playing conditions at the two venues, Smith confirmed the nature of the pitches reflected the switch between two clearly distinct locations.
“The wickets we played on, they’re completely different tracks,” he said.
“This one (Dubai) is quite slow, two-paced, took some spin.
“I think the Gaddafi track is arguably one of the best one-day wickets in the world for batting.
“The ball skids on nicely, the outfield’s lightning and there’s definite differences there.”
Despite failing to reach the final for a second consecutive men’s ICC tournament – Australia failed to progress past the Super Eight stage of last year’s T20 World Cup won by India – Smith said his team could be pleased with their efforts in the Champions Trophy.
With established stars Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis absent due to injury, personal reasons or retirement, the reigning ODI World Cup and World Test Championship title holders fielded a vastly new-look line-up.
That was noticeable in last night’s semi-final with allrounder Cooper Connolly, seamer Ben Dwarshuis and leg spinner Tanveer Sangha all part of the starting XI despite having played just a handful of ODIs between them.
With a number of veteran players including Smith (aged 35), Glenn Maxwell (36) and Starc (35) seemingly unlikely to be part of the next ODI World Cup campaign in southern Africa in late 2027, Australia clearly went into this tournament with an eye to the future.
“We’ve got pretty good records in big games in ICC events and I thought the guys turned up and did a really good job,” Smith said of a campaign in which rain ensured no result in two of Australia’s four matches.
“It’s obviously a bit of inexperience in our team, particularly our bowling attack.
“Some new guys there who I thought did a really good job as well.
“They’re going to be better for the exposure to a big event and playing against world-class players like the ones we came up against today and throughout the tournament.
“So, plenty of positives to take from it.”
2025 ICC Men’s Champions Trophy
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Australia’s Group B fixtures
February 22: Australia beat England by five wickets
February 25: No result v South Africa
February 28: No result v Afghanistan
March 4: India defeated Australia by four wickets
March 5: Semi-final 2, South Africa v New Zealand
March 9: Final, Lahore or Dubai (8pm AEDT)
Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Spencer Johnson, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Adam Zampa
