Rohit Sharma slaps down claim India has been handed a ‘huge advantage’ in Champions Trophy

Indian captain Rohit Sharma has rejected claims his side have been handed an unfair advantage ahead of their semi final against Australia.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma has slapped down suggestions his side has been handed an unfair advantage by exclusively playing their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai.

As a result of political tensions between India and neighbouring Pakistan, Sharma’s side was granted permission by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to play each one of their Champions Trophy games in Dubai, including their upcoming semi-final against Australia on Tuesday at 8PM AEDT.

While other teams were forced to travel between three Pakistani cities and Dubai, India did not face any such travel fatigue.

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Instead, they have been able to set up camp in one country and play on pitches that heavily favour spin, something that gives India an undoubted advantage.

With a squad as deep and talented as India’s they hardly needed an extra leg up but it is something they received anyway.

And as former England captain Nasser Hussain pointed out the advantage is not just in travel but also in being able to pick a side exclusively suited to the spin-friendly conditions in Dubai.

“So the best team in the tournament has that advantage,” Hussain said on Sky Sports last week.

“I saw a tweet the other day saying, ‘Pakistan host nation, India home advantage’. And that sort of sums it up. They’re in one place. They’re in one hotel. There is no travel.

“They are in the one dressing room. They know the pitch. They’ve picked for that pitch.

Rohit Sharma has rejected the notion that India has been handed an unfair advantage. Image: Getty

“I think (with) selection, when they selected, they were very smart. They probably knew what Dubai was going to be like. They picked all their spinners. There was a bit of debate … from Indian media saying, ‘What haven’t you gone for the extra seamer? Why all these spinners?’ Well, we’ve seen why. And other sides have not done that.

 “But all the other sides have to pick for different conditions (in) Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Dubai, and then they have to travel and adjust to those conditions. So it is an advantage. But once India refused to come here to Pakistan, what else could happen?

“You can’t have a tournament about this without India (or) Pakistan. That’s not going to happen. So it had to be in Dubai, and they sit happily and comfortably there, knowing that they’re going to, you know, probably play six games there, and if they win all those, they’ll win another global tournament.”

Former England player and commentator Jonathan Agnew also added the situation with India “makes a farce of these tournaments”.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma rejects notion they have gained an advantage

But Indian captain Sharma denied that they have had any advantage at all at the pre-match press conference ahead of their semi-final against Australia.

 “There are four or five surfaces that are being used and every surface has a different nature,” the opener said ahead of Tuesday’s semi-final against Australia.

India's Champions Trophy aspirations have been boosted by being allowed to play exclusively in Dubai. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP)

“The pitches look the same, but when you play on it, it has played in a different way. So, you can’t go thinking ‘We played like this yesterday, and today we’ll play like this’.

“We don’t know which pitch is going to be played in the semi-final. But whatever happens, we have to adapt and see what is happening.

“This is not our home, this is Dubai. We don’t play so many matches here. This is new for us too.”

In this 2025 Champions Trophy, spinners have averaged in excess of 40 in each of the three Pakistan venues and conceded at least 4.8 an over.

While in Dubai, the spinners averaged 31.90 at a rate of 4.50 and as the games have progressed the ground has played into the hands of spinners more and more, making Sharma’s comments about not having an advantage an even bigger reach.

It went from 49.50 in India-Bangladesh to 30.00 in India-Pakistan to 26.72 in India-New Zealand.

While Sharma mentions the pitch change, which is true as they have played on three different pitches at the same venue in the Champions Trophy.

But the only trend has been the wickets have become more and more spin-friendly, which heavily favours India.

Australia's captain Steve Smith reveals the Dubai pitch looks dry and like it will heavily favour spin. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

Australia will turn to their spinners on Tuesday on the spin-friendly deck, with Adam Zampa, Cooper Connolly, Glenn Maxwell and part-timers Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head all expected to be handed the ball at various points.

The wicket for the semi-final is a used one and according to Australian captain Steve Smith “certainly looks a dry surface”, which will make combating India’s spinners, and the use of his own slow bowlers, crucial.

“I think for us the game’s probably won and lost how we play this spin, particularly in the middle overs, the way we get through there. So yeah, it’s going to be a challenge,” he said.

“I think that there’s going to be some spin by the looks of it, looking at the surface. And yeah, we’ve got to counter that.

“We’ve achieved everything that we wanted to. We made the semis at this present stage. That was the first objective. Hopefully we can get another one up on India.”

Originally published as Rohit Sharma slaps down claim India has been handed a ‘huge advantage’ in Champions Trophy