Steve Smith Rejects ‘India Advantage’ Claim

Australia captain Steve Smith downplayed the idea that India had a venue advantage after their four-wicket defeat in the Champions Trophy semi-final in Dubai. The topic has been widely discussed among former cricketers and fans, with frequent questions about the tournament’s scheduling. However, after India secured a spot in the final, head coach Gautam Gambhir dismissed any claims of unfair advantage from playing all their matches in Dubai.

Smith Dismisses Venue Advantage Debate

Smith also rejected these claims, stating that India had simply outperformed Australia.

“Yeah, look, I’m not buying into it. It is what it is. India played some really good cricket here. The conditions suited their strengths with the spinners and seamers they had. But they played better than us, and they deserved to win,” Smith said in the post-match press conference.

Australia, having won the toss, chose to bat, and Travis Head’s quick 39 off 33 balls gave them an early boost. With a strong scoring rate, a total of around 300 looked achievable. However, India’s bowlers consistently broke partnerships at key moments. Smith admitted that if one of those stands had lasted longer, a total of 290-300 would have been realistic instead of 264.

“I think the toss was the right call. We had our chances to put up a bigger score, but we lost wickets at crucial moments. “If one of our partnerships had lasted longer, we could have reached 290-300, adding pressure on the opposition,” Smith said.

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He also acknowledged that the pitch was not easy to bat on, noting that the surface had been used heavily over the past few months, which contributed to the lack of 300-plus scores in the tournament.

While defending the 265-run target, Australia missed key opportunities, dropping two catches off India captain Rohit Sharma in the powerplay. Later, Glenn Maxwell had a golden chance to dismiss Virat Kohli in the 26th over, but his one-handed attempt didn’t stick, allowing Kohli to add 30 more runs to his tally.

“We dropped a couple of chances, and when you’re trying to build pressure with 260 on the board, you need to take those. But that’s part of the game. No one drops catches on purpose,” Smith concluded.

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