Champions Trophy: Playing at a single venue an advantage for Rohit Sharma & Co.?

A six-day gap between two matches in an ICC tournament is a rare luxury for the Indian team — but Rohit Sharma & Co. won't be complaining.

After sealing a semi-final spot with two back-to-back wins against Bangladesh and Pakistan, they appeared to be in high spirits during a full-scale warm-up and practice session at the ICC Academy grounds on Wednesday evening, 26 February, after a two-day break.

Their last group match against New Zealand on Sunday, 2 March, may technically be a ‘dead rubber’, but the Men in Blue would like to assert their supremacy in white ball cricket against the team which embarrassed them 3–0 in a home Test series only few months back.

The first semi-final on 4 March, which is supposed to feature India, will almost immediately follow the New Zealand game — but India is the only team to have the benefit of playing all their matches at a single venue, the Dubai International Stadium.  

The schedule, finalised after much backroom diplomacy and to make the hybrid formula work, says the final will be held in Dubai on 9 March, should India make it — or else in Lahore.

No doubt, the advantage of staying at a single venue has allowed the Indian team management the luxury to plan their squad according to the one specific pitch — the selection of five spinners in a 15-member squad being a case in point.

It's clearly an unfair advantage, but all stakeholders had to agree to the BCCI’s terms to save the Champions Trophy.

But exactly how big of an advantage does it hand India — as they still have to win their matches against quality opponents to lay their hands on the trophy?

Pat Cummins, the Australian skipper who had given the tournament a miss during the birth of his second child as well as to nurse a niggle, told Yahoo Australia: ‘’I think it’s good that the tournament can go on, but obviously it does give them (India) a huge advantage of playing on the same ground. They already look very strong and they’ve obviously got the benefit of playing all their games there.’’   

In a podcast, former England captain Michael Vaughan was more categoric: ‘’To me, it’s a hard-to-quantify advantage but an undeniable advantage. They are playing at just one venue. Therefore, the selection, you know, can focus on the conditions in Dubai.

“And obviously, they know where they are playing their semi-final when they get through to that. That seems to be to be an undeniable advantage, but you know, kind of hard to quantify how big an advantage.’’

Neutral venue for all: Shreyas

Indians may be biased in this, but Shreyas Iyer had a different take on the situation.

In a tournament of such condensed format, the other three teams in India’s group — Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand — have all had to criss-cross between Dubai and different cities in Pakistan to play their league matches.

Asked about the benefit of India playing all their games at a single venue in contrast, Iyer provided a counterpoint to the mainstream view after their win over Pakistan: ‘’At the end of the day, it’s a neutral venue. It’s a challenge for both the teams. We don’t come and play in Dubai much either.’’  

Meanwhile, a point of concern for the Indian camp has been the question mark over captain Rohit Sharma’s hamstring. There are reports that he did not take part in the nets session on Wednesday — giving rise to a speculation that he may sit out the inconsequential New Zealand game.

When asked about both Sharma and Mohammed Shami, who seemed to be troubled by his ankle a bit during a spell in the Pakistan game, Iyer maintained there was no cause of concern.

With nearly three days to go, this may not be the last we hear of the issue, however!