London, UK, February 25 (ANI): Former England cricketers Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton have stated that India holds an advantage in the ICC Champions Trophy as they are competing at only one venue, Dubai, and do not have to travel to different venues.
Following India's decision to boycott the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan due to security concerns, they will now play all their matches in Dubai as part of a hybrid model, including their semifinal match. Consequently, group members Pakistan, New Zealand, and Bangladesh will have to play their matches in both Pakistan and Dubai. Similarly, group B members South Africa, Afghanistan, Australia, and England will also be required to play their knockouts in both locations.
Atherton and Nasser discussed India's schedule on Sky Sports, as quoted by Wisden, comparing it to other teams. They pointed out that playing at one venue has greatly reduced the team's travel time, as they now only need to travel from their hotel to the stadium, while also taking into account Dubai when making their team selections. In contrast, other teams must factor in travel to multiple venues, including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Dubai, when making their team selections.
"The advantage India has in playing in Dubai is something that's difficult to measure, but it's undoubtedly a significant benefit," said Atherton as quoted by Wisden.
"They're playing at only one venue. They don't have to travel between venues or countries like many other teams do. As a result, the selection can focus on the conditions in Dubai, where they're playing their semi-final, should they advance to that point. This appears to be an undeniable advantage," he noted.
Nasser agreed, saying, "It is an advantage. For the best team in the tournament to have that advantage...I noticed a recent tweet: the host country, Pakistan, has an advantage, and the home team, India, also benefits from an advantage. That pretty much sums it up."
They are all in one place, in the same hotel, which means no travel stress. They know the pitch well, as they were chosen for it. When they were selected, they made a clever decision, likely aware of what to expect in Dubai. They opted for seam bowlers. The Indian media questioned the decision, wondering why they didn't choose an extra seamer and why so many spinners were picked. But now it's clear why.
India selected five spinners for their team, including two specialist spinners, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, and three spin bowling all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar. Despite Mohammed Shami's recent return from a lengthy injury break, they chose a relatively inexperienced and thin pace attack comprising Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and all-rounder Hardik Pandya to help share his workload, with Mohammed Siraj remaining on the reserve list.
Hussain noted that other teams haven't done so, and if England reaches the semifinal, they will only have one specialist spinner.
Pakistan had one frontline spinner [Abrar Ahmed] last night against India," continued Hussain. "You could argue that when the injuries occurred, they should have replaced him, and I have made that argument. However, all other teams have to select players for varying conditions - Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Dubai, and then they have to adapt to those conditions.
"It's a benefit, but what else could happen? The ICC, in the past, India refused to come to Pakistan, what else could occur? You cannot hold a tournament like this without India-Pakistan, that is not a reality. It had to be in Dubai. They [India] sit contentedly and comfortably there, knowing they will likely play six matches there, and if they win all those, they will win another global tournament," he concluded. (ANI)