Tag: Dubai

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has hit back at claims that his side enjoys a home-like advantage in Dubai, dismissing the notion as baseless following his side’s commanding five-wicket win over Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final.

India, the 2013 champions, became the first team to secure a spot in the final after outclassing Australia at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. However, questions have been raised about whether the conditions gave them an unfair edge.

“Even if this tournament was played in Pakistan, we would have still gone with two spinners. The idea that we have some kind of edge in Dubai is completely unfounded,” said Gautam Gambhir while addressing the media after the match.

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He further emphasized that India hadn’t even trained at the Dubai International Stadium, instead preparing at the ICC Cricket Academy, which has completely different conditions.

“Tell me, when and where has India played a tournament under these current Dubai conditions? I can’t remember,” he argued, taking a direct swipe at the critics.

Dismissing the ongoing debate, Gambhir made it clear that India’s success had nothing to do with external factors.

“Dubai’s pitches don’t favour us in any special way. Our players have delivered in every department of the game because of their skill and hunger to win,” he asserted.

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He also took a shot at how performances are often judged purely on stats.

“As journalists, you look at numbers. We focus on a player’s impact. Scoring big runs doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t influence the match outcome,” he explained.

With India now just one step away from clinching the title, Gambhir remained focused on the bigger picture.

“The job isn’t done yet; there’s still one crucial match to win,” he reminded.

READ: Steve Smith announces retirement from ODI cricket

DUBAI: The ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 final will take place in Dubai on March 9, following India’s victory over Australia in the semi-final on Tuesday.

Due to Men in Blue’s qualification, the highly-anticipated Champions Trophy 2025 final will be played in Dubai despite Pakistan being the host.

It is pertinent to note that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had announced that the venue for the final is subject to India’s qualification.

Consequently, the full implications of India’s refusal to play Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan were laid bare on Sunday as Australia and South Africa waited to find out whether they will play their semi-finals in Lahore or Dubai this week.

Political tensions between the neighbours mean India has not played a cricket match in Pakistan since 2008, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was not inclined to change the policy for the Champions Trophy, citing government advice over security issues.

Earlier, India’s team reached their third consecutive final of the marquee event, defeating Australia convincingly with four wickets.

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The Men in Blue successfully chased a challenging target of 265 on a fresh Dubai pitch in 48.1 overs on losing six wickets.

In pursuit of the target, India lost both openers inside the power play. Rohit Sharma (28) and Shubman Gill (8) were dismissed quickly, thanks to some good bowling from Australia.

After the early hiccup, Indian stalwart Virat Kohli and Sheryas Iyer added a 91-run stand to steady the chase. Iyer departed after making a well-made 45 off 62 deliveries, featuring three fours.

But Kohli remained steadfast in the chase, forming vital partnerships with Axar Patel and KL Rahul.

He was the standout performer, scoring a flawless 84 off 98, laced with four boundaries, before being dismissed in the 42nd over.

Following his dismissal, Hardik Pandya took control of the chase and struck a quick-fire 28, bringing India close to the victory. He struck three huge sixes in his 28 off 24 balls.

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With only 4 required off 12 balls, Rahul, who remained unbeaten on 42, hit the winning runs with a six over midwicket and steered India to a memorable victory.

For Australia, Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa were the pick of the bowlers, each claiming two wickets.

India veteran batter Virat Kohli was named the Player of the Match for his outstanding batting performance.

Read: India storm into Champions Trophy final with thrilling win over Australia

Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has hit back at Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton after the former England captains raised concerns over India playing all their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 matches in Dubai.

With India refusing to travel to Pakistan due to political tensions, the ICC scheduled all their group-stage games in Dubai, a move that sparked debate over fairness. However, Gavaskar dismissed England’s complaints, calling them excuses for their own failures.

Speaking to Sports Today, the Indian legend criticized the constant whining from former English cricketers, urging them to reflect on their own team’s early exit from the tournament rather than fixating on India.

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“I think these are all wise and experienced people. Why don’t you actually look at why your team has not qualified? That’s what I was going to ask you, sir,” Sunil Gavaskar stated.

“Rather than constantly focusing on India, are you even looking at your own backyard? Your players are in such a fragile mental state, they don’t seem to care about results as long as they meet certain expectations.”

England’s semi-final hopes were dashed after losses to Australia and Afghanistan, prompting Hussain and Atherton to question whether India had an unfair advantage. But Gavaskar was quick to shut down the narrative.

“All the time, they are moaning, ‘India has got this, India has got that.’ It’s constant. We must just ignore it. Let them keep moaning. We have better things to focus on. That is the kind of attitude you must have,” he further stated.

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Sunil Gavaskar also highlighted India’s massive influence in world cricket, both in terms of on-field dominance and financial contributions through media rights and sponsorships.

“They just cannot seem to understand where India stands in international cricket in terms of quality, income, talent, and, more importantly, in terms of generating revenue,” he said.

“India’s contribution to global cricket through television rights and media revenue plays a massive role. They need to understand that their salaries also come from what India brings to the world of cricket.”

READ: Champions Trophy: England registers unwanted ODI record after defeat to South Africa

DUBAI: India hammered Namibia by nine wickets to give Virat Kohli a winning farewell in his last match as Twenty20 captain and finish their disappointing World Cup campaign on a high Monday.

India, who bowed out of the tournament on Sunday, rode on a 86-run opening stand between Rohit Sharma, who hit 56, and KL Rahul, who made an unbeaten 54, to reach their target of 133 in 15.2 overs in Dubai.

India, the 2007 champions, finished the tournament with three wins from five Super 12 matches but missed out on the semi-finals.

“I know we have not gone far in this World Cup, but we have had some good results in T20 and enjoyed playing together,” said Kohli, who lost the toss in both of India’s defeats by Pakistan and New Zealand.

“It’s a game of margins, T20 cricket. You talk about two overs of cricket with intent in the first two games and things could have been different.

“We were not brave enough, as I said. We are not a team that will give (the) excuse of tosses.”

Namibia signed off with a single win in their first appearance in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup.

Indian spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets each to set up the victory after they kept Namibia to 132 for eight.

David Wiese scored 26 off 25 balls and lifted Namibia from a precarious 94-7 to a respectable total, but it was not enough to challenge a powerful Indian batting line-up which came good towards the business end of the tournament.

Rohit, who remains the frontrunner to take over the T20 duties from Kohli, hit his second half-century of the competition.

Rohit finally fell to Jan Frylinck’s left-arm medium pace but only after he smashed seven fours and two sixes in his 37-ball knock.

Rahul kept up the pace to make his third consecutive fifty and struck the winning boundary.

Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 25 off 19 balls.

India had only managed to post 151 and 110 in their opening two losses against Pakistan and New Zealand that dented their chances of making the semi-finals.

New Zealand beat Afghanistan on Sunday to eliminate India from the competition and join Pakistan as the teams into the final four from Group 2.

In the final Super 12 match, the Indian bowlers took control after pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah sent back Michael van Lingen for 14 to end a 33-run opening stand.

Jadeja struck three times with his left-arm spin and off-spinner Ashwin also rattled the Namibian middle and lower order with figures of 3-20.

Wiese put on 23 for the eighth wicket with Frylinck, who made an unbeaten 15, to add useful runs in the final few overs.

“Only once we go back we’ll be able to realise we played an awesome level of cricket,” said Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus.

“We can take a lot of positives individually and as a team we’ll take this experience as a whole. Good foundation for us if we want to make the next step.”