Gautam Gambhir hit back at critics over India's dream Champions Trophy
Photo : AP
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Gautam Gambhir was furious at the question
- India are playing all their matches in Dubai
- India have not travelled to Pakistan
Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir lost his cool at a reporter after India reached the final of the 2025 Champions Trophy following a memorable victory over Australia in the semi-final. The Men in Blue will face either South Africa and New Zealand in the summit clash on Sunday (March 9) at the Dubai International Stadium.
The tournament has been an unprecedented arrangement as while Pakistan is hosting the tournament, India are playing all their matches in Dubai. The Men in Blue's progress to the summit clash meant that Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium lost the chance to host the final.
While all other teams have been travelling across the three venues in Pakistan and flying to Dubai to face India, the Men in Blue have been stationed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and played all their games at the same venue and avoided the hassle of travelling between matches.
Many cricket experts have accused India of having an unfair advantage. Infact, the Mohammed Rizwan-led team also had to leave Pakistan's shores to face India. Ex-England cricketer Michael Atherton claimed that India have the home advantage in the tournament.
Rasser van der Dussen, who is playing for South Africa in the tournament also claimed that it was no 'rocket science' that the Rohit Sharma-led team have an advantage.
Gautam Gambhir Fires Back
As a conscious attempt has been made to play down India's flawless run to the final, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir slammed a reporter during the post-match press conference after a question on India's strategy on the spin friendly Dubai pitches. The 2011 World Cup-winner stated India's squad would been similar if the tournament was held in Pakistan.
"See, first of all, this is as neutral a venue for us as it is for any other team. We have not played here. I don't remember when last we played here. And in fact, we didn't plan anything like that. The plan was that if you pick two frontline spinners in the 15-man squad, then even if we played in Pakistan or anywhere, we would have picked two frontline spinners because this was a competition in the subcontinent," said Gambhir.
"So it's not like we wanted to spin a spinners' web. If you look at it, we only played one frontline spinner in the first two matches. We played two frontline spinners in this match and the previous match. And there's a lot of debate about the undue advantage and all that. What undue advantage? We haven't practised here even for one day. We're practising at the ICC academy. And the conditions there and here are 180 degrees different. Some people are just perpetual cribbers, man. They've got to grow up. I feel that there was nothing like we had any undue advantage," Gambhir added.
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