Making sense of ‘farcical’ Champins Trophy schedule row and the India legacy that’s on the line

Should India win tonight’s Champions Trophy final in Dubai, the triumph will be accompanied by an asterisk and a footnote.

In December, the ICC announced that all of India’s matches — including knockouts they qualified for — would be played at Dubai International Stadium because the Indian government prohibited the national team from travelling to Pakistan.

The Pakistan Cricket Board agreed to the hybrid model if they didn’t have to send their team to India for upcoming ICC events in the bordering nation, including next year’s Men’s T20 World Cup.

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It wasn’t an ideal solution, but the alternative was axing India from the tournament — which courtesy of broadcast rights and lost revenue wasn’t a viable option. Pakistan was reportedly set to receive US$6 million from the ICC in hosting fees, but the revenue distribution potentially would have been altered if India didn’t participate.

The Champions Trophy was earmarked as a historic moment for Pakistan, hosting its first major ICC event in nearly three decades, yet five of the 12 completed matches — including the final — didn’t even take place in Pakistan.

The tangled scheduling forced India’s opponents to jet in and out of the United Arab Emirates throughout the Champions Trophy campaign while Rohit Sharma’s men set up camp in Dubai. The arrangement not only gave India an added advantage, but illustrated the Asian powerhouse’s influence over the sport.

The haphazard scheduling has created plenty of headaches for India’s opponents, who didn’t know which semi-final they’d play until the conclusion of Sunday’s group-stage match in Dubai. Australia, for example, didn’t get the date and venue of their semi-final confirmed until 40 hours before the first ball.

As a precaution, Australia and South Africa flew to Dubai last weekend in case they were drawn for the first semi-final against India. The gamble paid off for Steve Smith’s men, but the Proteas jetted back to Pakistan the following day following what proved a wasted journey.

“It’s only an hour and 40 minute flight, but the fact that we had to do that was not ideal,” South African batter David Miller said following Wednesday’s semi-final loss to New Zealand.

“We got to Dubai at 4pm, and at 7.30am we had to come back.

“It’s not like we flew five hours, and we had enough time to recover and recuperate, but it was not an ideal situation still.”

Meanwhile, the Indians have known for months that their semi-final would be in Dubai if they qualified for the knockouts, irrespective of whether they finished first or second in the pools.

“It’s embarrassing. It really is embarrassing,” former England player and coach David Lloyd said this week.

“This is one of the highest, most important events in world cricket, and the arrangements of playing are farcical. It’s laughable that you have to do that. Words fail me.

“It it just nonsense. I really don’t know how else to describe it. This is a world event. Teams are going from here to there — you might play, or you might not — so you’ll have to go back.”

Coach Gautam Gambhir brushed aside questions on India’s “undue advantage”, quipping: “Some people are just perpetual cribbers, man. They’ve got to grow up.”

However, his players saw things differently.

“It definitely helped us, because we know the conditions and the behaviour of the pitch,” Indian bowler Mohammed Shami confessed following Tuesday’s semi-final victory over Australia.

“It is a plus point that you are playing all the matches at one venue.”

Attention turns swiftly towards Sunday’s final between India and the Black Caps. New Zealand has travelled 7048km across the Champions Trophy campaign compared to India’s zero.

The spin-friendly Dubai pitch will also aid India’s cause, with the team’s starting XI expected to once again feature four strike tweakers — Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja.

India remains unbeaten at Dubai International Stadium across ten ODIs, with nine wins and a tie. The odds are heavily in their favour.

“The surface suits their style with the spinners that they’ve got and the seamers that they have at their disposal,” Australian captain Smith said after Tuesday’s semi-final.

“They played well, they outplayed us and they deserve the victory.”

Nobody can deny that India has been the best team of the tournament, bettering their opponents in all three facets of the game. Apart from an early scare against New Zealand during the group, nobody has come close to toppling the subcontinent conquerors.

The Indians were equally as dominant during the 2023 World Cup, winning ten consecutive matches before tripping at the final hurdle, an unexpected six-wicket loss to Australia in Ahmedabad.

Despite being the sport’s undisputed white-ball powerhouse for over a decade, India hasn’t won a 50-over title since the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. Good teams win matches, while great teams win trophies.

ICC tournaments are often accompanied by retirements — Smith announced he was stepping away from ODIs on Wednesday, while several of India’s veterans might follow suit after Sunday’s final.

Sharma, Jadeja and Virat Kohli — each aged in their late thirties — retired from the game’s shortest format following last year’s T20 World Cup triumph in the Caribbean, while the next major 50-over assignment is the 2027 World Cup in South Africa.

If India defeats New Zealand on Sunday and breaks their 12-year title drought, the trio may consider finishing their ODI careers on a high.

For Sharma in particular, the outcome of this weekend’s match will be legacy-defining — his captaincy would come under scrutiny if India bottled a second consecutive ICC final as outright favourites. Having accumulated 104 runs at 26.00 across the tournament with no fifties, the 37-year-old is also under mounting pressure to contribute with the bat.

Meanwhile, despite becoming mortal in the red-ball format over the last few years, Kohli’s one-day expertise was never in doubt, producing match-winning performances against Pakistan during the group stage and Australia in the semi-finals. His legacy as ODI cricket’s greatest ODI run-chaser is secured, but he’d desperately want to add another trophy to his cabinet following the 2023 heartbreak.

“We still have one more game to go,” Gambhir declared on Tuesday.

“We know that we are a good one-day side and the most important thing is the way we’ve actually played throughout this competition. The hunger, the commitment, and the eagerness to try and do something special for the country is always there in the dressing room.

“We still haven’t played a perfect game. We still have one more game to go. Hopefully we can play a perfect game.”