Legendary Indian batter and former captain Sunil Gavaskar has fired back at former England captains Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton after they alleged that the Indian men’s cricket team was handed an “undeniable advantage” in the Champions Trophy 2025 by playing all their matches at a single venue—Dubai.
In a column for a sports magazine following India’s thrilling four-wicket win over New Zealand in the final on Sunday (March 9), Gavaskar dismantled their argument, questioning why England failed to win any major ICC trophy until 2019 despite hosting four ODI World Cups and three Champions Trophy tournaments.
Gavaskar pointed out that the decision to schedule all of India’s matches in Dubai was made by the ICC in December 2024, emphasizing that any complaints about this arrangement should have been raised then, not after India’s dominant title run. “Like in the ICC T20 win last year, the Indians beat every team in the Champions Trophy too, and if that is not an indication of India being the best, then please let us know what is.”
He further dismissed the claims that India’s lack of travel between matches gave them an unfair edge, making it clear that the tournament structure was decided well in advance. “Yes, 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.”
Taking a direct shot at his English critics, Sunil Gavaskar questioned their logic behind the “home advantage” argument. “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?”
With his hard-hitting remarks, Gavaskar has left no room for debate—India’s victory in the Champions Trophy was earned, not gifted, and any attempts to discredit it are nothing more than sour grapes.
