India playing all their matches at the Dubai international stadium has been a hotbutton topic during almost the entire Champions Trophy with many cricketers bemoaning how the Men in Blue have an ‘unfair advantage’ on the pitch despite Pakistan being the hosts of the tournament. Veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has now rubbished these claims stating that if India had lost, the issue of Dubai pitch helping the Indians would not have come up.
Cheteshwar Pujara shuts down Dubai pitch debate:
In an interaction with RevSportz, Pujara said, “I don’t think so. The schedule was out there before the Champions Trophy began, the reason for Indian team to not travel to Pakistan was the security. ICC and BCCI worked together to try and find a neutral venue. India have played against Pakistan at a neutral venue, and UAE is closer to Pakistan,”
Pujara further stated that the advantage for India is in fact the kind of talent they have and the number of all-rounders in the side.
“I don’t think it’s an unfair advantage. If India had lost, no one would’ve said they played in Dubai, that’s why they lost. I don’t think it’s a home ground for India. The advantage for India is the kind of talent they have, the number of all-rounders they have,” Pujara added.
India to lock horns with New Zealand on Sunday:
Notably, Rohit Sharma led India are all set to lock horns with New Zealand at Dubai in Sunday for the final of Champions Trophy 2025. The two teams had also met in the league stages of the tournament where India managed to defeat the Kiwis despite scoring just 249 runs, thanks to a fifer from Varun Chakravarthy.
Meanwhile, Kiwis will also likely be at another disadvantage as their lead pacer Matt Henry could be out of the match due to an injury. However, it will not be a wise choice for India to dismiss the Mitchell Santner led side given the kind of track record they hold against them in the recent times.
