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While there has been an uproar from multiple pockets who imagine India’s extended stay in the UAE and their familiarity with the DICS pitch gives the men in blue an unfair advantage over visiting sides, Aussie skipper Smith opined that Rohit Sharma and Co. outplayed…Read More
Australia’s captain Steve Smith plays a shot during the ICC Champions Trophy semifinal cricket match between India and Australia at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Team India cruised into the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 with a 4-wicket win over Australia in the semifinal at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. While there has been an uproar from multiple pockets who imagine India’s extended stay in the UAE and their familiarity with the DICS pitch gives the men in blue an unfair advantage over visiting sides, Aussie skipper Steve Smith opined that Rohit Sharma and Co. outplayed his boys.
“I’m not buying into India’s familiarity with pitch and condition. India obviously played some really good cricket here,” said Smith.
“The surface kind of suits their style with the spinners that they’ve got,” he continued
“And they have the seamers at their disposal for a wicket like that. They played well, they outplayed us and they deserve the victory,” the player who retired from ODIs following the defeat said.
Australia were bundled out by the Indian bowling attack for 264 runs in 49.3 overs as Steve Smith top scored with 73 runs off his willow. Smith voiced that his side had the opportunity to post a total around the 300-run mark which would have added scoreboard pressure when the Indians came out to chase.
“We had our opportunities throughout to post something up above 300. We were probably just that one wicket down too many at a few stages throughout the innings,” he said.
“If we extended one of those partnerships a little bit we’re probably getting up 290-300 and we’re putting a bit of pressure on the scoreboard,” Smith added.
Smith acknowledged the challenges in playing at the Dubai pitch, but reiterated that their defeat was down to their inability to extend the partnerships at the crease.
“It’s clearly not the easiest wicket to bat on. The square block as a whole has seen a lot of cricket over the last couple of months. We can see it’s pretty tired and that’s probably the reason why we haven’t seen a score above 300 in the tournament here so far,” the 35-year-old added.
“So, we did a reasonable job but we probably just lacked a couple of those partnerships just dragging out a little bit further to get us up somewhere near 300 or just above,” he stated..
