India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak dismisses claims that the Dubai venue gives India an unfair advantage in Champions Trophy.
Rohit Sharma’s India will face New Zealand in the final on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium, where they have remained undefeated in their four matches.
India declined to tour Pakistan, the original hosts, due to political tensions and was granted Dubai as their venue in the United Arab Emirates.
“The draw that happened, it happened before,” batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said to reporters before the final. “After India winning four matches, if people feel that there is an advantage, then I don’t know what to say about it.”
The tournament’s schedule, with teams traveling from Pakistan to Dubai for matches against India, has been contentious.
South African batsman David Miller stated that it was not an ideal situation for his team to travel to Dubai to face India’s semfinal opponent and then return to Lahore in under 24 hours.
Even Pakistan had to fly to Dubai to play against India instead of hosting them on home soil.
The conditions on the pitches have varied significantly between the two countries; Pakistan’s games featured larger totals compared to the slower, turning pitches in Dubai.
“End of the day, I think in a game you have to play good cricket every day when you turn up,” Kotak said. “So the only thing they [critics] may say is that we play here. But that is how the draw is.”
“So nothing else can happen in that. It is not that after coming here, they changed something, and we got an advantage,” he added.
India, after topping Group A where they faced New Zealand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, defeated Australia in the first semifinal.
New Zealand, led by Mitchell Santner, lost their final group game against India by 44 runs before defeating South Africa in the second semifinal in Lahore.
Kotak stated that the previous outcome between the two teams will have no impact on India’s mindset for the final.
“That depends how the New Zealand team thinks, but I think we should not think that,” Kotak said.
“We should just try and turn up and play a good game of cricket because there is no use thinking about the last match.”
New Zealand’s head coach Gary Stead said they are not overly concerned about India’s supposed advantage.
“I mean, look, the decision around that’s out of our hands,” Stead said.
“So it’s not something we worry about too much. India have got to play all their games here in Dubai. But as you said, we have had a game here, and we’ll learn very quickly from that experience there as well.”
“And if we’re good enough to beat India on Sunday, then I’m sure we’ll be very, very happy,” he concluded.
