Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has rejected claims that India has a ‘home advantage’ at Dubai but admitted that there is definitely a ‘familiarity’ advantage for the Men in Blue, given that they will play all their games at the same venue while others side will have to travel there to compete with them. Uthappa’s statement comes shortly after Sunil Gavaskar in no uncertain terms said “either play or otherwise go out”.
In a video posted by news agency PTI, Uthappa said, “I won’t call it a home advantage, but there is definitely a familiarity advantage. I was listening to an interview yesterday. If I am not mistaken, Wasim Jaffer was saying that if he was going to play in Dubai, he could have played one match in Dubai, one match in Abu Dhabi and one match in Sharjah. We could have definitely done that. So that other teams don’t have to complain about this situation.
“But why didn’t we go to Pakistan? These are geopolitical reasons. And every country has a right. If they don’t want to go, then they shouldn’t go. And if a team has to play in a venue because of that, then they have to play. We could have complained that if we had played in Pakistan, our record scores would have been very good. Every batsman gets an opportunity to make a run. This is a matter of speaking. At the end of the day, a match is between a bat and a ball. And I believe that the team that plays well on that day will win.” the former India cricketer added.
But why are India playing in Dubai?
Ever since Pakistan was announced as the host of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, the BCCI has been adamant that it won’t send the Indian team across the border to play in the mega tournament for security reasons.
As a result, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were forced to accept the hybrid model that will see the Men in Blue play all their matches, including the knockout stages, in Dubai. Rohit Sharma’s men have already qualified for the semi-finals with wins over Bangladesh and Pakistan.
