Follow UsIndia’s premium pacer Mohammed Shami, went against head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 to claim that India benefited from playing at a single venue in Dubai in this competition.
“It definitely helped us because we know the conditions and the behaviour of the pitch. It is a plus point that you are playing all the matches at one venue,” Shami was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
However, this was totally against the team’s view. Just after Shami’s post-match comments, Gambhir, in the press conference, said that those saying India have had undue advantage of playing at the same venue are ‘perpetual cribbers’ and ‘needed to grow up’.
In the pre-match press conference ahead of the semi-final against Australia, skipper Rohit had said that Dubai was not their home ground.
“Every time, the pitch gives you different challenges. The three matches that we played here, the pitch behaved differently. This is not our home; this is Dubai. We don't play so many matches here, and this is new for us too,” Rohit said.
India will play a third straight Champions Trophy Final on March 9 at the same venue, meaning they will once again be in an advantageous position.