Star Australia fast bowler agreed that India had a clear advantage in playing at only one venue during the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Rohit Sharma-led side played all of their matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium after refusing to travel to host nation Pakistan.
During the tournament, the Dubai surface worked in India’s favour as their spin quartet was able to get good purchase out of the pitch, which left the opponents bamboozled. Recently, Starc also spoke about India’s advantage and praised them for playing exceptionally well throughout the tournament.
“There’s been a lot made on that topic obviously, India have tried to push that to the side and said that it’s a neutral venue. But there’s been a lot to come out of the tournament during and post. Obviously, India won fair and square, they’re a bloody good cricket team and have been across all formats from a long time,” said Starc on FanaticsTV Youtube channel.
Furthermore, the speedster highlighted the problems suffered by the other teams while travelling as India had decided to stay at one place and said that he agrees with all the criticism that is going around.
“New Zealand played in Dubai and flew back to Pakistan for semi final and then again to Dubai to play the final. Even Pakistan despite being hosts had to travel out of their country to play India. Even David Miller spoke about the flight situation. When one team plays at the same place with no flights, I would tend to agree with some of the opinions that have come out,” he added.
India remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, winning all of their five matches. During the event as well, India captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir were asked about their team’s advantage due to playing at just one venue in Dubai.
The India captain maintained that Dubai isn’t their home ground, while Gambhir called the critics ‘perpetual cribbers’. India’s triumphant campaign has been marred by the controversy all around, which has taken away the focus from their dominant performance in the event.
