Veteran Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has stirred the Dubai advantage controversy once again as he said that India had to take no flight, had no restrictions upon them and played every game at the same venue, agreeing with the opinions laid down by many commentators and players.
Speaking to Fanatics TV’s YouTube channel, Starc said, “When one team gets to stay at one place, no flights, no restrictions upon them in the place, train at the same venue every time, play every game at the same venue, I would tend to agree with some of the opinions that have come out. I can understand where a lot of the guys in the other seven teams were coming from and some opinions from broadcasters,”
“There’s been a lot made on that topic. Obviously, India tried to push that to the side and say it’s a neutral venue, but there’s been a lot to come out of the tournament during and post. India won fair and square, they were the better team, they are a bloody good cricket team, and have been across all formats for a long time,” Starc said in the same interview.” the Aussie pacer added.
Why did India play at Dubai? What did team management say?
Notably, India had refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025 due to security reasons, prompting the PCB, BCCI and ICC to agree on a “neutral venue” for all the matches for the Men in Blue, which was chosen to be Dubai. However, with Rohit Sharma’s men playing at the same venue, other teams had to travel from Pakistan to play with them, while the Men in Blue did not even play at any other venue in the UAE itself, leading many commentators to question whether India had an unfair advantage in the Champions Trophy.
However, the Indian team management – including coach Gautam Gambhir – had rejected claims that India had an “unfair advantage” in Dubai, saying that they only played their matches at the Dubai stadium, but all their training sessions were held at the ICC Academy.
“There’s no undue advantage in India playing in Dubai. This venue is as neutral for us as it is for the others. We haven’t even practised once at this ground as of now. We practised at the ICC Academy,” Gambhir said at a press conference.
Notably, the debate had come to an end with India winning all five matches in Dubai to win the Champions Trophy 2025 and emerge as the most complete team of the tournament, but Starc’s comments have given further ammunition to the controversy.
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