Dubai, March 4 India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday slammed critics for claiming that India have an ‘undue advantage’ due to them playing all Champions Trophy 2025 games at the same venue and told the ‘perpetual cribbers’ to ‘grow up.’
India advanced to the final of the tournament with a four-wicket victory over Australia at the Dubai International Stadium. The Rohit Sharma-led side has played all four games at the same venue, whereas other teams have had to travel from Pakistan to the Middle East to face India due to the Indian government's refusal to allow the team to travel to Pakistan for their matches, causing uproar among fans of the other competing nations.
“Kaunsi undue advantage? (What undue advantage?) We practice at ICC Academy, where conditions are different from what we get here at the stadium. Some people are perpetual cribbers; they need to grow up,” said Gambhir at the post-game conference.
Riding on Virat Kohli's 84, Shreyas Iyer (45), K.L. Rahul (42 not out), and Hardik Pandya (28 off 24 balls) gave the finishing touches to India's chase of 265 to progress to the final of the eight-team competition.
So far in the tournament, wicketkeeper batter K.L. Rahul has not had much of an impact on the scoreboard, registering 83 runs across three innings, not getting a chance to bat against Pakistan, but has remained unbeaten on two occasions showcasing his ability to drag the team over the line.
Gambhir backed Rahul and talked about his impact on the team despite batting at number six, with Axar Patel having been promoted above him in the line-up. “I don’t care about criticism, I am honest to my job…honest to 140 crore Indians. KL averages 50 in ODIs, I don’t really care about criticism and all that. There is no talk about batting numbers, only about impact. We want impact and KL adds depth at No.6,” he added.
India will play the winner of the second semifinal between New Zealand and South Africa, set to be played in Lahore on Wednesday, in the final on March 9.
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