Former Australia player Brad Hogg wants to see India playing in Pakistan and the Men in Green coming to the neighboring country for bilateral matches. He commented after giving his opinion on whether India enjoyed the advantage by playing their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 matches in Dubai. The Men in Blue are the only unit that was allowed to compete at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. At the same time, all the remaining seven teams had to travel from one city to another in Pakistan. New Zealand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were made to travel to Dubai to play matches against India in Group A.
Australia also played the semifinal against the Rohit Sharma-led team at the same venue. South Africa and the Aussies had to fly from Pakistan to Dubai to know about their semifinal opponent. With Australia and India’s knockout match confirmed, the Proteas returned to Lahore to take on the Kiwis.
“It was important for the Champions Trophy that India take part. The political issues prevented them from playing in Pakistan. Hoepfylly, one all this stops so the two countries start playing cricket. All the teams had to face this travelling scenario in the Champions Trophy 2025. Australia didn’t complaint. They were defeated by a better team in the semis. Only New Zealand can beat India in Dubai,” he said.
He also highlighted the statements made by Team India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and speedster Mohammed Shami.
“Gautam Gambhir didn’t agreed that India had an advantage by playing in Dubai but Shami accepted it. I think the two different versions show that India had an edge over other teams because of playing in Dubai as they got used to the conditions,” he added.
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