On Tuesday, March 4, the India team defeated Australia in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy, advancing them to the final. On Sunday, March 9, they will now play either South Africa or New Zealand in the championship match. India qualified, hence the Dubai International Stadium will now host the final.
Without a question, India has been enjoying yet another fantastic ICC event in which they have yet to be defeated.
Since the Men in Blue did not have to travel and were playing at the same location, some cricket fans and former players still maintain that they had an unfair edge. The naysayers were silenced by India’s head coach and former world champion Gautam Gambhir, who said that the pitch and venue were neutral and unfamiliar to them, just like to all other teams that have played there.
“First of all, we can use this arena in the same impartial manner as any other team. Here, we haven’t performed. I can’t recall the last time we played here. Actually, that was not part of our plan. The idea was to include two frontline spinners in the 15-man squad. Since this was a subcontinental competition, we would have done so whether we played in Pakistan or somewhere else.
Therefore, it’s not as if we intended to create a network of lies. If you look at it, in the first two games, we only used one frontline spinner. We used two frontline spinners in both this game and the last one,” Gambhir continued.
Additionally, there is much discussion regarding unfair advantage and related topics. Unfair advantage? We haven’t even practiced here for a day. The ICC Academy is where we are practicing. Furthermore, the circumstances there and here are completely different. Man, there are those that are just constant whiners. They must become more mature. “I believe that we did not have any unfair advantages,” Gambhir continued.
In relation to the second semi-final, the game is scheduled for Wednesday, March 5 at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. The final game to be played in Pakistan will be this one.
India
