Undoubtedly, India’s Champions Trophy schedule has been given significant attention as they are playing all of their matches in Dubai. Over the last few days, there have been numerous opinions suggesting that India are having a massive advantage due to playing only at one venue. But, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has brushed aside all the opinions saying that pitch has behaved differently in all games.
“Look, we have played three matches. the nature of the surface was the same. But in all those three games, the pitch has behaved differently. Today (Against New Zealand on Sunday ), we saw that when their (New Zealand) bowlers were bowling at the start, the ball was swinging a bit. We didn't see that in the first two games (against Bangladesh and Pakistan) when our bowlers were bowling. And in the evening, it's a little cold in the air. So, there is obviously plenty of chances for getting swing. We know this. But, the three games we have played here, there are four or five surfaces that are being used. So, every surface has a different nature,” Rohit Sharma said during the press conference ahead of semi-final 1 against Australia.
“Even, we don't know which wicket will be played. The pitches look the same. So, you can't go thinking that we played like this yesterday, and today we'll play like this. Every time, because of the different pitches, the pitch is giving you different challenges as a batsman. We have to think whether it is important to play these shots or not,” he said.
India will meet Australia on Tuesday in a do-or-die battle to secure their place in the final of the tournament. India are coming off three consecutive victories, having beaten Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand in their group stage matches.