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BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) vice president Rajeev Shukla was annoyed by inquiries over India's unfair advantage during their matches in Dubai for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, which has proved ideal for spin, is where India plays all of their matches. As a result, many experts are furious that India is able to play under their favorable circumstances.
Rajeev Shukla silences Pakistan journalist
When Rajeev Shukla traveled to Pakistan to see the tournament's second semi-final, he was asked the same question. In a sophisticated response to a Pakistani journalist, the BCCI vice president looked annoyed by the question, stating that India relies on their performances rather than pitches to win games.
“When this decision was being made during the ICC meeting, it was decided that India-centric matches will be played in Dubai while the remaining games will be played in Dubai. So it’s not about fair or unfair and the Indian cricket team doesn’t play depending on pitches. There are different kind of pitches in Dubai ground as well. India play on performance, the players play on their skills not on the basis of the pitch,” said Shukla while speaking to the media at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
He was also questioned on the likelihood of India and Pakistan resuming their bilateral cricketing ties at a neutral location. Shukla stated that the Indian government controls it and that the BCCI does not have a strategy of playing bilateral series in a neutral location.
“As far as bilateral cricket relations between India and Pakistan is concerned, the decision is in the hands of the government. Whatever the government of India tells us, we’ll go by that. Moreover, it’s the policy of the BCCI and I guess it would be the same for the PCB as well that whichever bilateral games should take place on the soil of either of the two nations. It shouldn’t take place at a neutral venue, it’s a consistent policy by the BCCI,” he added.
Pakistan recently visited India for the 2023 ODI World Cup, whereas India last visited Pakistan in 2008 for the Asia Cup. The bitter rivals have only faced off in multi-national competitions since their most recent bilateral ODI series in India in 2012–13. In the meantime, India advanced to the Champions Trophy final for the third time in a row after defeating Australia by four wickets in the first semi-final. With another outstanding innings from star batsman Virat Kohli (84 off 98), the Men in Blue were able to chase down the total of 265 in 48.1 overs.
