Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, David Lloyd, and former England cricket players remarked on India’s alleged unearned benefit in the current Champions Trophy. The conversations started after the Men in Blue advanced to the semi-final and unlike other clubs, they didn’t have to travel to any other city. The present batch of cricketers—Jos Buttler, David Miller, and Rassie van der Dussen—also griped about the same, noting that India knows well the circumstances in Dubai and that playing in the same location all give an advantage.
India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak rejected all the discussion, pointing out that the team is following the schedule set by the ICC. He mentioned also that the players train on varied wickets, not at all like the ones already played. He remarked nothing extra was distributed to the team and reminded the calendar was published ahead of schedule.
” I can’t see how this (pitch) benefits us.” People believe we had an edge after the games were won. That i have no idea what to comment about. Kotak said in the conference that we just played based on the draw.
“Clearly we are on a different wicket.” We are competing on pitches that vary slightly. We have all aware of that. Therefore we just played at this location. But that’s how it goes. It’s unmitigated. After arriving here, he noted, nothing was changed to help us in any way.
Kotak continued on to criticize the present players that protested that India had an unjust advantage. He remarked that more important than grumbling following the loss is playing great cricket on any field. Once more he clarified that India gained no benefits from playing all their games in Dubai.
Turning up in a game, I believe one has to play good cricket every day. You can’t really whine if you don’t play well. And if you do perform well, there is no need for a debate on whether you had an edge or not. He added, we definitely don’t have an edge just as we train here and play games here.