’Play, otherwise go out’: Sunil Gavaskar slams critics over Team India’s Champions Trophy 2025 one-venue row | Mint

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar minced no words to the past and present players who have pointed fingers at India’s Champions Trophy 2025 one-venue advantage, stating “either play or otherwise go out”.  Ever since Pakistan was announced as the hosts of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, the BCCI were firm in its decision that it wouldn’t send the Indian team across borders to compete in the mega tournament due to security reasons.

As a result, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were forced to accept the hybrid model where the Men in Blue are playing all their games in Dubai including the knockouts. Rohit Sharma’s men have already qualified for the semifinals with wins over Bangladesh and Pakistan. 

While no one spoke about India’s undue advantage of playing in a single venue as compared to other teams who had to travel across venues and countries, the calls got louder after the 2013 champions made it to the last four with former England cricketers Michael Atherton and Naseer Hussain leading the charge. 

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who is currently a part of the commentary team in Dubai, came up with a blunt answer when asked asked about the same and asked the concerned (Michael Atherton and Naseer Hussain) to look into their own team’s debacle, rather pointing fingers on others.  

“Khelna hae to khelo, nehito bahar jao (If you want to play then play, otherwise go out),” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today. Incidentally, England were knocked out of the tournament after two losses in Group B, including an embarrassing defeat to Afghanistan. 

“How can it be an advantage? You are not controlling the pitch, you are only staying at one place. It’s just beyond understanding. I think these are wise and old people. Why don’t you actually look at why your team has not qualified,” added Gavaskar. 

What Michael Atherton and Naseer Hussain said?

According to Michael Atherton, it’s an undeniable advantage for India. “What about the advantage India have in playing in Dubai, only in Dubai? Which seems to me to be a hard-to-quantify advantage, but an undeniable advantage,” Michael Atherton told Naseer Hussain on Sky Sports Podcast.

“They’re playing at just one venue. They don’t have to travel either between venues or, you know, between countries, as a lot of other teams have to do,” he added. 

On the other hand, Naseer Hussain opined that India played smart in choosing their venue. “They are at one place, one hotel, they don’t have to travel. They have one dressing room. They know the pitch, they have picked for that pitch.

“They were very smart in their selection. They probably knew what Dubai is going to be like. They picked all their spinners. there was a bit of debate with Indian media saying why don’t you have gone for an extra seamer? Why all these spinners? Now we can seen why,” he said.