SUCCES WITH AN ASTERISK India's players celebrate with the trophy after winning the ICC Champions Trophy one-day international (ODI) final cricket match against New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on March 9, 2025. Picture: Ryan Lim/AFP
Image: Ryan Lim/AFP
They played like champions and they deserved this Champions Trophy. Those were the biased words of Ravi Shastri in commentary as India scored the winning runs in the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday.
The former India captain used the word ‘deserved’ rather loosely in my opinion, despite his repeated banging on throughout the match about ‘what a fantastic final this has been’.
India were always going to win the Champions Trophy, in a tournament they engineered the odds to be permanently in their favour.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say that I respect the Proteas team more who crashed out of the tournament in a convincing fashion to New Zealand in the semi-finals.
While there’s no absolute certainty in a cricket match when pre-determining the winner, this is about as close as it gets.
Firstly, the India cricket team was playing the best cricket in the tournament, and their progression to the final was expected.
However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) saw to it that its team would not travel to Pakistan during the Champions Trophy due to legitimate safety concerns for their players and staff.
While their security concerns are legitimate, the double standards at play with the International Cricket Council (ICC) when it comes to India are farcical.
It meant that for the tournament co-hosted in Pakistan and the UAE, India was the only team that did not travel to different venues. The other seven teams all had to go through the usual travel challenges during the tournament, while India played at one venue and therefore became intimately accustomed to playing conditions.
That was probably the biggest advantage they gained in terms of winning matches.
I believe the tournament should have had similar travel conditions for all eight teams, and if that couldn’t be organised, then India should not have been allowed into the event and another nation called up.
That would never happen though, as the BCCI dictates matters to the ICC and is the epitome of nepotism. That’s why I believe that though the history books will reflect India as the 2025 Champions Trophy winners, there should be a disclaimer to this title.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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