‘Can’t Complain If You Don’t Play Well’: India Coach Sitanshu Kotak Rejects ‘Dubai Advantage’ Taunts
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India men’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak dismissed claims of an advantage in playing all 2025 Champions Trophy matches in Dubai, stressing the need to play well daily.
Virat Kohli, Sitanshu Kotak (C) and Gautam Gambhir. (Screengrab/BCCI)
India men’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak doesn’t think India have any ‘advantage’ in playing all their 2025 Champions Trophy matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Several players from the other seven teams, who have traveled between Pakistan and Dubai at least once, staff members, and pundits have said that India have a definite upper hand in the competition due to familiarity with conditions by the virtue of playing at the same venue and a negligible travel schedule.
“I don’t understand what advantage we get from this (pitch). People feel that India got an advantage after we won the matches. I don’t know what to say about that. We just played to the draw,” Kotak told reporters during India’s net session ahead of the final against New Zealand on Sunday, as quoted by PTI.
“I think in a game, you have to play good cricket every day when you turn up. If you don’t play well, then you can’t complain. And if you play well, there is no point in saying whether you have an advantage or not. I don’t really think we have an advantage just because we are practicing here and we are playing matches here,” he added.
The most recent player to criticize this was South Africa’s David Miller who said the to-and-fro between the two countries before the semi-final against the Kiwis on Wednesday was ‘not ideal’, while even backing Mitchell Santner’s team to beat India in the final on Sunday.
Ahead of the summit clash, the Kiwis have traveled for and played at all three venues in Pakistan plus Dubai.
“We obviously practice on different wickets. We are playing matches on a bit of different pitches. We all know that. So, the only thing is that we played 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 got an advantage,” Kotak argued.
Indian pacer Mohammed Shami had accepted that the team was enjoying an advantage because of their familiarity with the conditions, in a recent media interaction. But before him, skipper Rohit Sharma, too, had said India wasn’t enjoying any such advantage.
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- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)