Indian captain Rohit Sharma has dismissed allegations that India enjoys “unfair advantage” by playing all their matches of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium. The claims, made by several cricketers, suggest that the tournament’s scheduling favors India.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of India’s semifinal clash against Australia, Sharma firmly rejected the notion, emphasizing that Dubai is not India’s home ground. He pointed out that the stadium features multiple playing surfaces, each offering unique challenges.
“Every time, the pitch is giving you different challenges. The three matches that we played here, the pitch has behaved differently. This is not our home, this is Dubai. We don’t play so many matches here, and this is new for us too,” Sharma said.
The Indian skipper further clarified that his team has no prior knowledge of which pitch will be used for the semifinal. “There are four or five surfaces that are being used here. See, I don’t know which pitch is going to be played in the semifinals. But whatever happens, we will have to adapt and see what is happening and what is not. And we will play on that,” he added.
Under Rohit Sharma’s leadership, India has dominated the tournament so far, topping Group A with emphatic wins over Bangladesh, Pakistan, and New Zealand. India will now face Group B runners-up Australia in the first semifinal at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday, March 4.
