ICC Champions Trophy: Gautam Gambhir dismisses claims of 'undue advantage' for India

Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir lashed out at accusations of India enjoying an undue advantage at the ICC Champions Trophy. An extended tussle between the PCB and BCCI culminated in Dubai being chosen as India's venue for the tournament, while Pakistan hosted the rest of the fixtures. The hybrid model settled on hosting the semi-final and the final in Dubai if India qualified for the stage. Now that India has beaten Australia to book a spot in the Champions Trophy final, Lahore has been eliminated as the venue, with the New Zealand vs South Africa semi-final being the last game in Pakistan.

Gautam Gambhir calls out 'perpetual cribbers' after India's semi-final victory at the ICC Champions Trophy

India, fixed in Group A along with hosts Pakistan, Bangladesh, and New Zealand, played all their matches at the same venue, as arranged ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy. The Men in Blue, appearing in formidable form, managed to ease past defending champions Pakistan and Bangladesh seamlessly to reach the semi-finals. Moreover, with two victories in account at the same venue, the Indian spinners stunned New Zealand in the last group-stage match to conquer the Group A standings. This setting, however, where New Zealand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were required to travel back and forth from Pakistan to Dubai, didn’t sit well with the fraternity.

Many prominent names in the game, from former cricketers to players like Pat Cummins and Rassie van der Dussen, highlighted the advantage India had at the tournament. Apart from acclimatization with the venue, the Men in Blue avoided a strenuous travel schedule as they remained in the same location throughout the Champions Trophy. Others in the group, meanwhile, had to hop between Pakistan and Dubai after playing their fixtures across three venues, Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi. Australia, placed in Group B, played the group stage in Pakistan before heading to Dubai for the India vs Australia semi-final.

However, Gautam Gambhir lashed out at the noise around India's "undue advantage" in Dubai. Ahead of the India vs Australia semi-final, skipper Rohit Sharma also expressed that Dubai was no home venue for the team. But Gambhir went a step ahead of Rohit after India's semi-final victory, launching into a fiery rant against the narrative. Interestingly, the question didn’t directly ask Gambhir about the issue but rather about India's plan to play four spinners on the Dubai pitch. First, Gambhir clarified that India would have played the same combination even if they had been required to play in Pakistan. Next, he dismissed the notion of the team’s advantage, which many were considering a factor in their success.

"First of all, this is as neutral a venue for us as it is for any other team," Gambhir said. "We have not played here. I don't remember which tournament we played in this stadium last. And in fact, we didn't plan anything like that. The plan was that if you pick two front-line spinners in the 15-man squad, then even if we played in Pakistan or anywhere, we would have picked two front-line spinners because it was a competition on the subcontinent."

Bringing out his trademark bold demeanor, Gambhir tagged the critics as "perpetual cribbers," asking them to grow up. As Rohit had clarified earlier, Gambhir reiterated that the team was not aware of the pitch they would be playing on. Moreover, the head coach explained that the team had been practicing at the ICC Academy and not at the venue, as the discussion suggested.

"And there's a lot of debate about the undue advantage and all that. What undue advantage? We haven't practised here even for a day. We're practising at the ICC Academy. If you look at the wickets there and here, the difference is between the ground and the sky. Some people are just perpetual cribbers, man. They've got to grow up. So, I feel that there was nothing like we had any undue advantage or we had planned something like that," he added.