India coach Gautam Gambhir and Varun Chakaravarthy throughout observe session at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, India, February 8, 2025. — Reuters
DUBAI: Indian cricket crew coach Gautam Gambhir strongly dismissed claims that India enjoys a bonus in Dubai’s enjoying situations following a four-wicket victory towards Australia within the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final at Dubai Worldwide Cricket Stadium.
The 2013 champions grew to become the primary crew to e-book their spot within the last after they eased previous Australia by 5 wickets on the identical venue on Tuesday.
Addressing a press convention, Gambhir acknowledged that these accusations have been baseless and devoid of actuality.
“Even if this tournament was held in Pakistan, we would have still gone with two spinners. The idea that we have some kind of edge in Dubai is completely unfounded,” he mentioned.
In a harsh tone, Gambhir added that the Indian crew hadn’t practiced even a single day on the Dubai Worldwide Stadium. As a substitute, they’ve skilled on the ICC Cricket Academy, which has solely totally different situations from the primary venue.
The previous cricketer issued a pointy rebuttal to these questioning India’s benefit. “Inform me, when and the place has India performed a event underneath these present Dubai situations? I can’t keep in mind,” he argued.
“This criticism is unnecessary and far from the truth,” he asserted.
Gambhir emphasised that Dubai’s situations are as unfamiliar to India as they’re to different groups. “The pitches here don’t favour us in any special way,” he claimed.
He talked about that critics typically concentrate on gamers’ runs and wickets as a substitute of their impression on matches. “As journalists, you take a look at the numbers and statistics, We analyse the impression a participant has on the sport. Scoring massive runs doesn’t make a participant nice if it doesn’t affect the end result of the match,” he explained.
Expressing full confidence in the team, Gambhir said, “Our players have excelled in every department of the game. Each one of them has taken responsibility and shown the hunger to win. But the job isn’t done yet; there’s still one crucial match to win.”
Addressing the continuing criticism of crew choice, Gambhir dismissed it outright. “We don’t care about criticism from outsiders. Our focus is solely on the efficiency of the gamers and the success of the crew.”
