Mohammed Shami has completely contradicted his head coach, Gautam Gambhir. After the India cricket team beat the Australia cricket team in the ICC Champions Trophy first semifinal, Gambhir had answered a question levied against the Men in Blue. Many were criticising the fact that, unlike other teams, Team India is playing all of their matches in Dubai.
Gautam Gambhir fires back at ‘India advantage’ critics
ICC was showing favouritism towards India, as alleged by many, including former cricketers like Michael Atherton. India didn’t have to travel and picked their squad based on the fact they’ll play just in Dubai. That is perhaps why five spinners were taken and just three pacers.
Gambhir was asked this question. He refuted that India had any advantage, something Rohit Sharma had also stated before the India vs. Australia semifinal. Gambhir called those who make such claims ‘perpetual cribbers.’
“There’s a lot of debate about the undue advantage and all that. What undue advantage? We haven’t practiced here even for a day. We’re practicing at the ICC Academy. And the conditions there and here are 180 degrees different. 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,” Gambhir told reporters in Dubai after India reached the ICC Champions Trophy Final.
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Shami contradicts Gautam Gambhir Dubai claims
A day later, Shami has stated the exact opposition. The pacer admits that Team India does have an advantage because they know how the pitch behaves. How does it feel to play in the afternoon or at night? No travel also aids the team.
“It definitely helped us because we know the conditions and the behaviour of the pitch. It is a plus point that you are playing all the matches at one venue,” Shami said on Tuesday.
5 of the total 15 matches in the ICC Champions Trophy were played in Dubai despite Pakistan being the official hosts. And that includes two of three knockout matches (the first semifinal and final). The reason being that ICC needs the money generated from India and can’t hold the tournament without them. So when the BCCI says they won’t travel to Pakistan, they have to simply expect it.
