Lahore: England skipper Jos Buttler has made a sensational statement, taking a dig at India's advantage of playing all their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 matches including the semi-final and final, if they qualify, at the same venue - Dubai Cricket Stadium.
The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) had refused to visit the host country Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025 due to security concerns amid the border tensions. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had a plethora of meetings with both, Pakistan and India, cricket boards on the issue, and at the end, concluded by having a hybrid model in which the 2013 Champions will play all of its matches at a neutral venue - in Dubai while all the other games will be played across three cities (Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi) in Pakistan.
Knowing they are going to play all of its matches at the same stadium, India have picked up as many as five spinners in their squad considering the conditions of the tracks on offer in Dubai which are generally spin-friendly.
Ahead of the game against Afghanistan on Wednesday, England captain Jos Buttler was asked about India's advantage in playing at one venue and Buttler called it a 'unique tournament' where one team is playing its matches outside of the official host country.
Major #ChampionsTrophy semi-final implications as Afghanistan take on England in Lahore 🏏
— ICC (@ICC) February 26, 2025
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"Not really. I think it's a unique tournament already, isn't it, with being hosted here with one team playing in a different place but that's not something I'm sort of worried too much about at the moment. I've got all my focus on preparing well tonight and our game tomorrow," said Buttler in the pre-match press conference.
India have played two matches in the ongoing tournaments and has recorded comfortable wins, with spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel sharing six wickets between them, picking up three wickets each while Ravindra Jadeja managed one. However, pacer spearhead Mohammed Shami has been the leading wicket-taker with five scalps, followed by Harshit Rana with 4 and Hardik Pandya (2 wickets).
The Rohit Sharma-led side has already qualified for the semi-finals. They will play their final group stage game against the opponent against whom they are yet to win a game in the Champions Trophy history. The Men in Blue will lock horns with New Zealand in the third and final group fixture on March 2.
Meanwhile, England will take on Afghanistan in a do-or-die encounter after losing their high-scoring match against Australia. Notably, the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side is playing their first-ever Champions Trophy, but they have stunned Jos Buttler's men with a defeat during the ODI World Cup 2023 and will hope for the same in the upcoming fixture as well.
