Team India have been accused of enjoying an unfair advantage in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, with former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton first raising concerns.
They argued that India's familiarity with the conditions in Dubai and their lack of travel between venues gave them an "undeniable advantage."
The criticism only grew louder as current crop of cricketers like Jos Buttler, David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen also complained about the tournament's scheduling.
India are currently on an unbeaten streak in the eight-team tournament. After beating Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand in the group-stage, the Men in Blue outplayed Australia in the semi-final to make their third successive appearance in the Champions Trophy final.
Ahead of India’s title clash against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday (March 9), legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has made a scathing attack on the critics for claiming that the Rohit Sharma-led side is having an advantage in this competition.
“Tournaments are won on the basis of performances, not excuses,” Ashwin said on his Hindi YouTube channel “Ash Ki Baat.”
“I am laughing when people ask our captain and coach the same question about having an advantage playing in Dubai. In the 2009 Champions Trophy, South Africa played all their games at the same venue and even then they failed to qualify for the knockouts. It was not South Africa’s fault that they didn’t qualify then. Teams qualified only because they play good cricket,” he added.
Ashwin reiterated that India deserved to be in the final while also urging the fans to not buy the single venue advantage narrative.
“India is in the final because they have played solid cricket. No matter what happens in the final, they deserved to be finalists because of the kind of cricket they have played. Please don’t throw mud at our own cricketers because of someone else’s narrative.
“I know a Test team that travels to India, loses the series, and then blames it on the pitches. Imagine an Indian cricketer coming out and saying such things if we lost a series overseas. We never do that.
“If India wins this trophy, we will be winning the title back-to-back. Let’s celebrate them. Don’t buy into this narrative.”
Ashwin also mentioned that the Indian cricketers didn’t complain despite playing across nine venues during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
“In the 2023 World Cup, we played at nine different venues. I was with the team, I traveled with the team. I agree with David Miller, a one and a half hour flight does increase lactic acid in your body. But you must understand it is not in the Indian team’s hands. The ICC has made the fixtures. This schedule was decided even before an Indian became ICC chief,” he remarked.
