Shami Contradicts Gambhir and Rohit: India’s ace pacer Mohammed Shami contradicted coach Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma on the issue of allotting a single venue to India for the entire ICC Champions Trophy 2025 matches. Shami was talking after India cruised into the final, demolishing Australia in the semis.
Shami Contradicts Gambhir and Rohit on Single Venue Controversy
According to Shami, playing at a single ground for the entire tournament is an added advantage for the Blues.
“It is certainly helping us. We know the conditions and the behavior of the pitch,” Shami said.
“It is certainly an advantage to play all the matches at one venue,” Shami added.
This, though, contradicts the stance of both Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma, who were bashing the critics by ruling out the possibilities of any extra aid due to the same pitch.
“This is not our home; this is Dubai. So, we don’t play so many matches here. This is new for us too,” Rohit said.
Gambhir had the same opinion of the captain.
“This is as neutral a venue for us as it is for any other team. We have not played here. I don’t remember which tournament we played in this stadium last year. And in fact, we didn’t plan anything like that,” he said.
Many former and current international players have criticized the ICC’s bias toward India and the help they are getting due to the same venue. Other teams have had to travel back and forth between Dubai and Pakistan to play India.
Former England cricketers Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain have started this controversy in a Sky Sports podcast, with Atherton saying:
“What about the advantage India have in playing in Dubai, only in Dubai? Which seems to me to be a hard-to-quantify advantage, but an undeniable advantage.” Hussain nodded to this, and after that, many cricketers took this issue to the public. Now it has reached Shami.
Shami also urged the ICC to bring back the reverse swing rule in which the bowlers are allowed to use saliva to get reverse swing.
“We are trying to reverse, but you are not getting the use of saliva into the game. We are constantly appealing to allow the use of saliva, and it will be interesting with the reverse swing,” Shami stated.
Shami so far has bagged 8 wickets in the tournament from 4 matches and is the second most wicket-taker, just behind New Zealand’s Matt Henry (10 wickets). He took 3 wickets in India’s semifinal win against Australia.
“I am trying to get my rhythm back and contribute more to the team,” said Shami. “It is a responsibility when there are no two proper pacers, and I have to shoulder more responsibility,” he added, mentioning India playing with only one major pacer due to Jasprit Bumrah’s injury and Mohammed Siraj surprisingly getting snubbed by the management.
“There is a load when you are the one main pacer, and the other is an all-rounder. You have to pick wickets and lead from the front,” Shami added.
India will battle Kiwis in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final in Dubai on March 9, Sunday.
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