Rohit Sharma breaks silence as India repeatedly accused of Champions Trophy ‘advantage’: ‘This is Dubai, not our home’
Rohit Sharma has responded to criticism that Team India is enjoying an undue ‘advantage’ in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 by playing all their matches at the same venue. The Indian captain reckons the accusations are far from true because the playing conditions and pitches in Dubai are in stark contrast with each other. The ICC converted the Champions Trophy – initially supposed to be played entirely in Pakistan – into a hybrid mode, with India playing all their matches at the Dubai International Stadium, including the semi-final and the final, provided they qualify.
Australia captain Pat Cummins, former England skippers Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton and South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen have all been sceptical of the ‘advantage’ factor that India seem to benefit from. But Rohit‘s argument stems from the fact that no two pitches in Dubai have behaved in the same way, which always tends to surprise Team India even if they don’t have to travel from one city or country to another.
“Look, the three matches we played, the nature of the surface was the same. But in all three games, the pitch has behaved differently. Today, we saw that when the bowlers were bowling, their ball was 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. So, every surface has a different nature. We don’t know which wicket will be played,” Rohit said ahead of India’s semifinal against Australia on Tuesday.
“The pitches look the same, but when you play on it, it’s played in a different way. Every time, because of the different pitches, the pitch is giving you different challenges as a batsman. We have to think 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.”
‘This is Dubai. This is not our home’
In fact, India have a mixed history when it comes to playing in Dubai. They won the 2018 Asia Cup in the UAE under Rohit, defeating Bangladesh in the final, but three years later, they suffered a first-round exit in the 2021 T20 World Cup. It is clearly not a place or stadium where India play a lot of cricket. Ahead of the semi-final knockout, India still find themselves in a fix, having to pick between the in-form Varun Chakaravarthy and Harshit Rana. And that decision is not easy only because India and Rohit don’t know what they’ll get on the day of the match.
“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 Dubai; this is not our home. So, we don’t play so many matches here. This is new for us too,” added Rohit.
