Rohit Sharma on Dubai pitch for IND vs PAK Champions Trophy match: ‘Not the curator but…’ | Mint

After securing a win in their opening match of Champions Trophy 2025, the Men in Blue will now face off against arch rivals Pakistan on Sunday for what could be the most high octane clash of the tournament. Notably, Champions Trophy is being played in Hybrid format with all of India’s matches being conducted in Dubai.

After the clash against Bangladesh, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was asked about the pitch conditions for the next match. Sharma wasn’t entirely forthcoming as he refused to comment on how the conditions could be for the next match and instead stated that he isn’t the curator.

Rohit Sharma on pitch for IND vs PAK patch:

“Not sure, but it will be pretty much similar I guess. I am not the curator here to tell you how exactly it will play but looks like it with the way the games have been played here,” Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation.

Notably, after being forced to field first at the Dubai International Stadium, the Indian skipper had said it wasn’t a decision he was too unhappy with and that he would have done the same if he had won the toss as the conditions could improve under lights. However, what happened was very different from what was expected as batting became much more difficult in the second innings with the spinners getting much more turn and grip from the pitch, making run-scoring more difficult.

Asked for his assessment on the pitch in the post-match presentation Rohit said, “It’s just one game, very hard to make anything out of the track, but we knew there’s not enough grass on the pitch and it is going to be on the slower side and that is exactly how the pitch played,”

“But again, you play (according to) the conditions. You try and think about what you want to do as a team and I thought we adapted to the conditions really well, to start with our bowling,” the Indian captain added.