How will cricket fans remember India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 win: unfair advantage or well-deserved victory?

[harshjoshi87]

Truth: In the recently concluded Asia Cup, Bangladesh played back to back super 4 matches against India and Pakistan in 2 days. For the match against India they made 3 unforced changes to give themselves a better chance vs pak the next day. All this while ind played matches on three consecutive Sundays. Before anyone says the obvious, ACC organised it. Which is my point that both Ind and Pak are receiving special treatment AT THE EXPENSE of other teams. There are other examples too like one team going to Dubai and then travelling back without playing in some tourney. These things take the shine away from trophies. Disservice to ind team and ind fans.

Obaid bhai you forgot about Asia Cup 2023 when India trashed Pakistan by 228 runs on Monday & beat Sri Lanka by 43 runs on Tuesday at Premadasa.

Because of rain on Sunday on 10th September, India-Pakistan match had to be completed on Monday 11th September.

India played against Sri Lanka the very next day on 12th September, went on to win that match too.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/match-schedule-fixtures-and-results

 

[Vikram1989]

Truth: In the recently concluded Asia Cup, Bangladesh played back to back super 4 matches against India and Pakistan in 2 days. For the match against India they made 3 unforced changes to give themselves a better chance vs pak the next day. These things take the shine away from trophies. Disservice to ind team and ind fans.

In 2023 asia cup india played 50 overs match on 3 consecutive days and no one ever raised a freaking finger about it. They pak on 2 days and sri lanka on next day.They decimated both of them.

In 2018 asia cup, again India played on two consecutive days against Hong Kong and pak.Hongkong stretched them 100 overs but minnows pak folded meekly .

Winners don't complain where whiners find everything suspicious. Steve Waugh in 99wc said " i dont know the opponent yet.we will go to ground and find it out".

 

[Vikram1989]

He has been caught lying multiple times. He uses lies to cover up his bitterness and jealousy.

Even in 2018 asia cup, Indian played consecutively against hongkong and pak.infact hongkong played much better than pak.

 

[BouncerGuy]

India in whiteball is a beast of a side atm... literally unbeatable in almost 99.9% games...

it was a well earned victory

 

[shah9425]

Yeah they had advantage of playing in same venue but they won

While this year we are playing in Colombo and still lost shamelessly

 

[Obaidd]

Obaid bhai you forgot about Asia Cup 2023 when India trashed Pakistan by 228 runs on Monday & beat Sri Lanka by 43 runs on Tuesday at Premadasa.

Because of rain on Sunday on 10th September, India-Pakistan match had to be completed on Monday 11th September.

India played against Sri Lanka the very next day on 12th September, went on to win that match too.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/match-schedule-fixtures-and-results

Harsh, thank you for reminding me of that.

The reserve day too if you remember was only for pak-ind matches.

It’s easy to see and I am expecting some honesty on this, by and large, the single biggest beneficiary of scheduling favours ends up being India (with Pak being a distant second: also condemnable). As I showed, these favours end up coming at the expense of other teams.

 

[Obaidd]

Some folks are just shooting the messenger here. I enter this thread specifically as a global cricket fan not as a Pakistani fan. Pak is a beneficiary of getting special treatment, case in point, pak playing all its matches in Colombo.

When I am talking about fairness I am thinking about all the other teams too. Who else is going to talk about that? I have maintained that meaningful opposition to bcci’s unchecked power needs to come from ind. Because in the long run, these favours start adding up and the shine from trophies is dampened if not completely gone.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Following the exit of Pakistan and Sri Lanka from the 2026 T20 World Cup Super 8 stage, Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik used a Sky Cricket Podcast to settle a year-old score with former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain

Karthik poked fun at the duo—whom he jokingly called "fossils"—for their previous claims that India won the Champions Trophy only because they enjoyed the "unfair advantage" of playing in a single, stable venue. Pointing out that Pakistan failed to advance in 2026 despite having the exact same advantages of familiarity and lack of travel in Colombo, Karthik argued that India’s success was actually a matter of talent rather than logistics.

> "Clearly, it works for one team but not for another, so there is a genuine lack of skill there [in reference to Pakistan]."

 

[charlie007]

Following the exit of Pakistan and Sri Lanka from the 2026 T20 World Cup Super 8 stage, Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik used a Sky Cricket Podcast to settle a year-old score with former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain

Karthik poked fun at the duo—whom he jokingly called "fossils"—for their previous claims that India won the Champions Trophy only because they enjoyed the "unfair advantage" of playing in a single, stable venue. Pointing out that Pakistan failed to advance in 2026 despite having the exact same advantages of familiarity and lack of travel in Colombo, Karthik argued that India’s success was actually a matter of talent rather than logistics.

> "Clearly, it works for one team but not for another, so there is a genuine lack of skill there [in reference to Pakistan]."

Is he wrong though?

 

[nish_mate]

Some folks are just shooting the messenger here. I enter this thread specifically as a global cricket fan not as a Pakistani fan. Pak is a beneficiary of getting special treatment, case in point, pak playing all its matches in Colombo.

When I am talking about fairness I am thinking about all the other teams too. Who else is going to talk about that? I have maintained that meaningful opposition to bcci’s unchecked power needs to come from ind. Because in the long run, these favours start adding up and the shine from trophies is dampened if not completely gone.

Forget the shine, in some cases the trophy's gone.....(Naqvi emoticon)

Agree with your post but the last line was too good to let it go ...

 

[sweep_shot]

It was a tainted and farcical win.

It doesn't count as far as I am concerned.

 

[BouncerGuy]

India is a good team in white ball for some long time now... 2024 t20 and then this... Not just a coincidence.

 

[Hitman]

It was a tainted and farcical win.​

It doesn't count as far as I am concerned.

That’s the point, ‘as far as you are concerned’, which matters zilch to anyone.​

 

[G0rmintAunty]

Is he wrong though?

Yes he is wrong. India played all the matches on the SAME ground whereas Pakiatan played in 3 different grounds and pitches with very different conditions. SSC weren't evening games so chasing or batting first didn't matter, ball stuck a bit, was two paced but small boundaries.

We played associates there but then our main match was in Premadasa against Ind which is totally different and is good for defending.
Then our Premadasa match is rained off and our next two matches are in Palekelle with totally different conditions, with dew making it ideal for chasing.

So it was not the same as India playing in juat one ground.

Also Indian team was much better than ours which is unfair also.

 

[shah9425]

Yes he is wrong. India played all the matches on the SAME ground whereas Pakiatan played in 3 different grounds and pitches with very different conditions. SSC weren't evening games so chasing or batting first didn't matter, ball stuck a bit, was two paced but small boundaries.

We played associates there but then our main match was in Premadasa against Ind which is totally different and is good for defending.
Then our Premadasa match is rained off and our next two matches are in Palekelle with totally different conditions, with dew making it ideal for chasing.

So it was not the same as India playing in juat one ground.

Also Indian team was much better than ours which is unfair also.

Last point sums up our cricket level as compared to India

 

[Bhaijaan]

India are always the team under the most intense pressure no matter where they play. Its a fact nobody will ever say because of intellectual dishonesty and beghairati that forget us desi people but even many white nations are sick with.

In every tournament, an Indian defeat is the most celebrated event in the world of cricket. Its not always because we hate India or Indian people but its looked as slaying of a financial behemoth in the game and of course little bit of jealousy given how dominant they have been in the last couple of decades.

Keepign that in mind, India's 2025 run was extremely impressive, I vivivly remember not every match wa sa smooth sailing experience for them and either middle-lower middle order batters like Iyer, Pandya etc had to constantly rescue them in tense situations or the bowlign had to keep taking wickets at the right moments to keep them in the game. The Australia match, it looked like Travis Head was going to take it away at one point, but Indian bolwer pulled their team right back by a tight bowling display.

The final also wasn't an easy chase for India and there were moments they were under severe pressure. But they held the nerves like a champion team. Conditions familiarity only works against lul-loo panjoo teams but they don't win you huge games which require extremely professional and technical display of talent under the highest pressure. I give full marks to Indians for winning the tournament.

In recently concluded Asia Cup final also, we thought we had them after taking 3 wickets at 20 runs while they were chasing, but Tilak, Samson continued to grind and one of them finished the match. Thats how champions play.

Forget about all these low life haters makign ridiculous allegations of unfair advatnage and crap like that. Sour grapes. Our cricket is in a sorry situation today simply for this kind of sorry excuses and dishonesty by our buzdil qaum. I wish we had Inida's discipline and aura.

 

[Obaidd]

It was a tainted and farcical win.

It doesn't count as far as I am concerned.

Wait… they’re people who actually take that win seriously? Must be inds.. lol they are oblivious to all the fixing going on to favour their team but the rest of world isn’t

 

[jnaveen1980]

India is a good team in white ball for some long time now... 2024 t20 and then this... Not just a coincidence.

2023 world cup was the best campaign ever in their owrld cup history. So it starte dbefore. Heck even in 2019 India had the most wins till 2-day semi final.

 

[Vikram1989]

Sour grapes getting sour again after dk roasted Atherton and nassir

 

[harshjoshi87]

2023 world cup was the best campaign ever in their owrld cup history. So it starte dbefore. Heck even in 2019 India had the most wins till 2-day semi final.

India should have won 2017 Champions Trophy, 2019 & 2023 World Cup. India was the best ODI team from 2015-2023. Botched up like South Africa in mid 1990s.

 

[sweep_shot]

Wait… they’re people who actually take that win seriously? Must be inds.. lol they are oblivious to all the fixing going on to favour their team but the rest of world isn’t

2025 CT was the biggest farce in cricket's history. No other event comes close.

I feel bad for New Zealand who had to travel like this --> Pakistan > UAE > Pakistan > UAE.

 

[harshjoshi87]

2025 CT was the biggest farce in cricket's history. No other event comes close.

I feel bad for New Zealand who had to travel like this --> Pakistan > UAE > Pakistan > UAE.

1996 WC win was biggest farce in cricket's history.

Sri Lanka qualified for q/f due to Australia & West Indies forfeiting matches in Colombo.

 

[sweep_shot]

1996 WC win was biggest farce in cricket's history.

Sri Lanka qualified for q/f due to Australia & West Indies forfeiting matches in Colombo.

1996 WC was pretty good actually.

Australia and West Indies forfeited. They lost points. That's it. There was no drama.

Even if they played in SL, I think SL should've won.

 

[harshjoshi87]

1996 WC was pretty good actually.

Australia and West Indies forfeited. They lost points. That's it. There was no drama.

Even if they played in SL, I think SL should've won.

No it was a farce, Sri Lanka didn't deserve to win that tournament, West Indies or Australia should have won.

 

[Josh]

No it was a farce, Sri Lanka didn't deserve to win that tournament, West Indies or Australia should have won.

He is a Bangladeshi