Gambhir was asked if they knew about the conditions in Dubai when they chose five spinners in their squad, three of them all editors of variable capacity. Gambhir came out in response, pointing to “perpetual critos.”
“See, first of all, this is such a neutral place for us as for any other team,” said Gambhir. “We have not played here. I do not remember when the last one we play here. And, in fact, we did not plan something like that. The plan was that if you choose two first -line spinners in the team of 15 men, then even if we play in Pakistan or anywhere, we would have chosen two first -line spinners because this was a competition in the subcontinent.
“So, it is not as if we wanted to make a spinners network. If you look at it, we only play a frontline spinner in the first two games. We played two frontline spinners in this game and the previous game.
“And there is a lot of debate about undue advantage and all that. What improper advantage? We have not practiced here even for one day. We are practicing at the CPI Academy. And the conditions there and here are 180 different degrees. Some people are simply perpetual cybalios, man. They have grown. Then, I feel there was nothing like an individual advantage.”
“Yes, look, I’m not buying it,” said Smith. “I think that is what it is. India obviously played a really good Cricking here. The surface adapts to their style with the spinnings they have and the sailors who have at their disposal for a wickt like that. They played well, they overcome us and deserve victory.”
However, the best goalkeeper of the tournament, Mohammed Shami, said that the familiarity of playing on the same land has helped him. It does not mean that what he said directly contradicts what Gambhir said. Gambhir had spoken brilliantly about how well Shami prepares for the matches. Then Shami was asked about his preparations.
“The main thing is to know the conditions and behavior of the field well,” Shami said. “Because you are playing in one place, you have the opportunity to get used to conditions correctly. So in practice I keep the things simple and try to play according to the releases for the game.”
When asked if it was a benefit to play in the same place, Shami said: “Definitely. Because you know the conditions, the behavior of the field. Many things … the way the weather was today, great, your brain works even more. It can be said that it is a point more than all your games have been played in the same place.”
Having said all that, the undefeated one of India meets the final of another CPI event will be happy with many hearts. India lost only the final in the ODI 2023 World Cup, won the T20 World Cup in 2024 without dropping a match, and they have won the four games in the ongoing champions trophy. After having gone through difficult times in Crickt Test, Gambhir rejoiced the “impeccable” performance, but distrustful of anticipating themselves.
“You used a very good word that we played ‘without problems,” Gambhir said. “I think we did, but we still have one more game.
“In international sport, you want to continue improving. You don’t say that you have marked all the boxes. There is always room to improve. There is always something to improve, whether in batting, edge or bowling. And we have not yet played a perfect game. We still have one more game. We hope we can play a perfect game.
“And that is the type of person I am. I will never be satisfied with the actions. We want to continue improving, we want to stay humble, we want to be ruthless in the cricket field, but absolutely humble outside the field.
Sidharth Monga is a senior writer in Espncricinfo
