Unfair advantage! Pat Cummins accuses ICC of favoritism towards India in Champions Trophy 2025

Australia's Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins has made a bold claim by saying that India have an added advantage as they will be playing all their games of the ongoing Champions Trophy in Dubai.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to hold the Champions Trophy 2025 in a hybrid model after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan due to security concerns.

The Indian board claimed that they didn't get the required permission from the country's government to send the team to Pakistan. Pat Cummins is not in favor of this decision and slammed the ICC for such an arrangement.

Also read: Revealed: Why is Daryl Mitchell not playing today's match against Bangladesh and who has replaced him?

Pat Cummins slams ICC in a bold claim

While speaking to Yahoo Sports Australia, Pat Cummins asked about ICC's scheduling of India's matches of the Champions Trophy 2025. While Cummins was happy that the tournament could carry on, he focused on the fact that India would get an advantage by playing all their games on the same ground.

The Australian fast bowler believes that India are already a strong team and they will have an advantage by playing all their matches in Dubai as they will be better equipped for the conditions.

“I think it's good that the tournament can go on, but obviously it does give them (India) a huge advantage playing on the same ground. They already look very strong and they've got that obvious benefit of playing all their games there,” Cummins said.

All of India's matches in the tournament are scheduled to be played in Dubai. Even if the Men in Blue qualify for the knockouts, they will continue to play all their matches in Dubai. The final of the tournament is scheduled to be played in Lahore but if India qualifies for the summit clash, that game will be played in Dubai.

India's great start to the campaign

India have started the Champions Trophy with two back-to-back wins over Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively. The Men in Blue won both the matches by 6 wickets.

India won both matches comfortably in the end despite being tested at times. They have almost confirmed their spot in the semi-finals and will play their last group match against New Zealand on March 2.

Why is Pat Cummins not playing in the Champions Trophy?

Pat Cummins is Australia's designated captain for the ODIs but is not a part of the team's squad for the ongoing Champions Trophy. The fast bowler was ruled out of the tournament due to an ankle injury.

He had also missed Australia's Test and ODI series in Sri Lanka prior to the tournament as he had taken paternity leave. Currently, he is recovering from an ankle injury and is eyeing a comeback in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season where he will be the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Steve Smith is leading Australia in Cummins' absence. Along with Cummins, the other two big fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are also missing the tournament due to their respective reasons.

The absence of the three fast bowlers has made Australia's bowling line-up quite inexperienced with the legspinner Adam Zampa the most capped bowler at the moment. Australia started their campaign with a brilliant win over England as they chased down a daunting target of 352 runs.