TOP STORIES
Sunil Gavaskar rejects ‘Unfair Advantage’ opinions

India’s title victory in the recently concluded Champions Trophy, where they defeated New Zealand in the final, has been overshadowed by a storm of controversy. Many have pointed to the fact that India played all of their matches in Dubai rather than traveling to the host nation, Pakistan. There have opinions that Indian team gained an unfair advantage by playing in Dubai only. However, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has stepped in to put the debate to rest, arguing that there was no unfair advantage for India in this situation.
"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. 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?" Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
Gavaskar also underlined the fact that a balanced team was the reason behind India’s spectacular show at the Champions Trophy.
"India won simply because it had a well-balanced team, and at different times in the tournament, different players played a game-changing role in the team's win. Above all, there was the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, who, in winning two ICC titles as captain, has joined the incomparable MS Dhoni in winning multiple titles as skipper of the Indian cricket team. Rohit also squashed rumours about his impending retirement, saying he has not decided to retire from the format," he added.
Tags
More News

Bangladesh name an unchanged squad for Pakistan T20Is
Bangladesh have named an unchanged squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan, starting on July 20. The same squad recently beat Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series to win it 2-1. Meanwhile, both Bangladesh and Pakistan will be playing three T20Is on July 20, 22, and 24, respectively, and all three match...

ZIM vs NZ: All you need to know, head to head, playing XI
Zimbabwe and New Zealand are scheduled to face each other in the third match of the ongoing T20I tri-series on Friday at Harare Sports Club, Harare. The Black Caps are coming off success after securing a 21-run win over the Proteas, kicking off their campaign with a win. New Zealand held their nerve to bowl South Africa out for 152 in their chase of 173, with <...

West Indies name squad for Australia T20Is
West Indies have named a 16-member squad for their upcoming five-match T20I series against Australia at home, beginning on July 20 in Jamaica. They have handed maiden T20I call-ups to Jewel Andrew and Jediah Blades.
Shai Hope will be leading the squad that also includes Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarr...

“When he plays they lose more”: Former England cricketer on Bumrah
There remains huge uncertainty whether Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will play the fourth Test against England in Manchester or not because of his workload management. Ahead of the Test series against England, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir had categorically said that Bumrah would feature in three of the five games, sitti...

“They obviously like the food here”: Ex-England cricketer’s funny jibe at team India
Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan has taken a pointed dig at team India, calling out a growing trend that has haunted the side during their ongoing five-match Test series — losing crucial wickets right before session breaks. His comment came in the aftermath of the third Test at Lord’s, where India succumbed to a 22-run defeat to go 1-2 ...