Skill or Scheduling?: Pakistan pacer buries team India with 'Easy Route' jibe to Champions Trophy 2025 Final
Published - 09 Mar 2025, 10:46 AM | Updated - 09 Mar 2025, 11:04 AM
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Former Pakistan fast bowler Junaid Khan has stirred up a fresh controversy by taking a direct swipe at India, questioning the fairness of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 schedule. Junaid Khan slammed the scheduling of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 with a jaw-dropping statement.
The former Pakistani cricketer accused the Men in Blue of winning the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 matches because of the global body’s favor. His explosive remarks have added fuel to the ongoing debate about whether the Men in Blue enjoyed an unfair advantage in the tournament.
Junaid Khan blasts ICC, accuses India of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 favoritism
Ahead of the high-stakes final between the Men in Blue and New Zealand in Dubai on March 9, Junaid Khan pointed out a staggering contrast in travel distances among teams in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
He explained how the teams, like New Zealand and South Africa, were forced to endure exhausting travels while the Men in Blue remained comfortably stationed in Dubai for all their matches.
With New Zealand covering over 7,000 kilometers and South Africa over 3,000, Junaid raised serious questions about the biased scheduling of the prestigious tournament over the Men in Blue's zero travel. He further went on to slam the ICC for designing the schedule to favor the Men in Blue.
Some teams win by skill, some win by scheduling: Junaid Khan
He also said that some teams win the matches because of their skills, but some get benefits from the scheduling while taking a dig at the Rohit Sharma-led team to ignite debates over whether the Champions Trophy 2025 finalist was given an unfair advantage through strategic scheduling.
Junaid Khan posted on his X handle ahead of the CT 2025 Final: “Distance traveled between matches in Champions Trophy 2025:
- New Zealand: 7,150 KM ✈️
- South Africa: 3,286 KM ✈️
- India: 0 KM 🏡
Some teams win by skill, some win by scheduling... #indvsnzfinal #indvsnz #ChampionsTrophy2025 #ChampionsTrophy.”
Distance traveled between matches in Champions Trophy 2025:
— Junaid khan (@JunaidkhanREAL) March 8, 2025
• New Zealand: 7,150 KM ✈️
• South Africa: 3,286 KM ✈️
• India: 0 KM 🏡
Some teams win by skill, some win by scheduling... #indvsnzfinal #indvsnz #ChampionsTrophy2025 #ChampionsTrophy
Did the Men in Blue get an unfair advantage in Dubai?
Notably, the ICC and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were forced to host the Men in Blue’s matches in a neutral venue after BCCI refused to send the team to Pakistan for the tournament due to political issues and security reasons. Hence, Dubai was selected as the venue for their matches while other teams traveled across multiple cities in Pakistan and some to the UAE as well.
Well, South Africa faced the worst of it, forced to fly to Dubai and back to Pakistan within 12 hours as there was no clarity on the semifinalists until the India vs New Zealand final group match. But in this chaos, the Indian cricket team avoided travel fatigue and made the most of the Dubai conditions.
Even Indian pacer Mohammed Shami admitted that they are getting some benefit from playing all their matches in Dubai, as they know the conditions and behavior of the pitch. But the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir denied having any advantage.
Gambhir and Rohit both have claimed that Dubai is not their home ground, and they remain unknown about the pitches before the games. However, legends like Sunil Gavaskar also admitted that the Men in Blue are getting benefits from playing all their matches in Dubai.
