Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has come up with another strong reaction to former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain’s earlier claims that the Indian team was given an "undeniable advantage" of playing all its matches at one venue during the recently-concluded Champions Trophy.

Notably, the BCCI refused to send its team to Pakistan due to security concerns. As a result, the ICC adopted a hybrid model, in which India played all of their games at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

After India’s back-to-back wins in the tournament over Bangladesh and Pakistan, Atherton and Hussain had pointed to Rohit Sharma-led side enjoying an advantage, as unlike the rest of the teams, they didn’t have to travel from one venue to another or consider team selection based on conditions.

The criticism only grew louder when current crop of cricketers like Jos Buttler, David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen also complained about the tournament's scheduling.

However, Gavaskar mentioned that these "negative comments" should have been made when the ICC announced in December last year that Dubai would host India's matches.

"There will be the carpers who talked about the advantage India had playing only at one venue and not having to travel between matches. However, that was decided by the ICC much before the tournament started, and any negative comment about that should have happened before the tournament's first ball was bowled," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

Gavaskar then launched a scathing attack on Atherton and Nasser, asking why England never made the most of home advantage despite hosting most ICC tournaments.

He added: "And if 'home advantage' is the reason India won, then how come England, from where most of the whingers were, did not win ICC trophies till 2019 despite hosting it about half a dozen times earlier?"

On a separate note, Gavaskar was glad that Rohit did not announce his retirement, as he backed the India captain to feature in the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.

"Rohit also squashed rumours about his impending retirement, saying he has not decided to retire from the format. The next big 50-over tournament is the ICC World Cup in South Africa in 2027, and the selectors will now have to tread gingerly around the team selection in the coming months. Seeing Rohit receive the Champions Trophy from ICC Chairman Jay Shah was a joyous moment for all Indian cricket lovers, and they will forever be indebted to the team for giving them this cherished visual."