Dubai 26/02/2025 – Former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton have raised questions about an unfair advantage for the Indian cricket team in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Indian team is playing all its matches in Dubai due to old political issues with Pakistan. Nasser Hussain Criticizes India, a factor that the former and some of the non-retired cricketers believe these are significant benefit for India over other teams who are facing challenges so far in this competition.
During a discussion on the Sky Sports Podcast, Atherton said that India does not have to travel between venues and countries. Instead, they are playing at the same venue and staying at the same hotel for the entire tournament. He pointed out that this situation allows the team to focus its selection strategy solely on Dubai’s conditions without worrying about varying pitch conditions elsewhere. He pointed out that this situation is actually making it much easier for the Indian captain and team management to select their best eleven based on the conditions of Dubai’s pitch.
India is not required to make changes in their playing eleven as they already know that the wicket is good for which set of players. Also, Indian players are getting more chances to play matches continuously without being dropped from the playing eleven. On the other side, this is not the case for other teams, as they need to make changes according to the conditions of the venue.
“What about the advantage that India has by playing only in Dubai? It seems to be a hard-to-quantify yet undeniable advantage, they don’t have to move between venues, which means they can focus entirely on the conditions in Dubai. That makes selection a lot easier.” Atherton said.
India has already secured a spot in the semifinals with dominating wins against Bangladesh and co-hosts Pakistan. The former England captain had said that India knows exactly where their semifinal match will take place. Knowing this in advance will definitely give an advantage to India compared to teams that must need to adapt to different conditions across Pakistan and the UAE.
Nasser Hussain also backed Atherton’s thoughts, stating that India’s selectors had made the right choices of picking five spinners in their squad for the tournament while being wrongly criticized for picking five spinners. According to him, India’s squad was well prepared for Dubai’s spin-friendly pitches, which is giving the Indian team a clear strategic advantage over their opponents in this competition.
Indian selectors have faced from the media regarding their squad’s selection. Some journalists questioned why India had chosen an extra spinner instead of picking up another seamer in their squad, but as the tournament progressed towards its final match, India’s strategy of team selection proved to be correct. “Now we can see why they went for spinners,” noted.
“It is an advantage, no doubt. The best team in the tournament has that advantage. I saw a tweet the other day saying, ‘Pakistan is the host nation, but India has a home advantage.’ That sums it up,” Hussain said.
He further elaborated on how India’s setup was beneficial to their performance. “They are in one place, one hotel, with no travel hassles. They have one dressing room and are fully familiar with the pitch. Their selection was smart and they knew what to expect in Dubai and they have also packed their squad with spinners.”
Challenges for Other Teams
The advantage India enjoys has put other teams in a difficult position, as they need to prepare for different conditions in Pakistan and the UAE. Hussain explained that teams like England and Pakistan had to balance their squad based on multiple venues, making the selection process more complicated.
Looking upon the advantages which Indian team is getting has put other teams in a difficult and more challenging side in this tournament to defeat India. As we saw Pakistan had to change their team as per the requirement for playing on Dubai’s pitch, just like Pakistan. New Zealand and the teams who will face India in the semi-final and may be in the final will also need to make changes in their playing eleven and also need to adapt to the playing conditions of Dubai, while India is completely free from these issues.
“For example, England, if they reach the semis, only have one specialist spinner. Pakistan also has just one frontline spinner. Injuries have forced changes, but team selections had to be made with Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi in mind. Meanwhile, India sits comfortably in Dubai, knowing they’ll play all their matches there.”
Nasser Hussain Criticizes India
Hussain has pointed out that these extra advantages might be enough for India to help them to clinch another ICC Champions Trophy for them as they are all packed at one venue like a lion and waiting for their opponents to come and face a defeat from India. As the tournament progresses, all eyes will be on how other teams adapt to these challenges of different venues, while India will continue to capitalize on the same playing conditions of Dubai and keep on becoming more stronger than before till hopefully they reach the finals of the Champions Trophy.
Article by- Md Imran (Cricket Zon)
