Pakistanis envious as former captain calls out BCCI critics for complaining

Due to geopolitical tensions, India decided not to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, leading to the ICC announcing Dubai as the venue for all India matches last December. However, critics have raised concerns over India's perceived advantage of playing all their matches at one venue, despite the decision being made more than two months prior to the tournament.

Speaking on YouTube show 'Caught Behind', Latif launched a scathing attack on former England cricketers Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, and David Lloyd for sparking the narrative against India and BCCI.

"If we (Pakistan) are talking about India having an advantage, you get it. But why are former England cricketers whinging about it now? Begaani shaadi mein abdullah deewana (They are trying to be overly involved in someone else's affairs)," he said.

The former wicketkeeper-batter admitted there is an issue with the scheduling but refused to blame the BCCI alone for what he labelled a "blunder." Latif, in fact, accused the remaining cricket boards of overlooking the mistake as he bluntly told them to stop whining over spilt milk.

"Yes, there was a problem with scheduling. On Saturday, March 2nd, India played New Zealand in Dubai. If India had played that match a day earlier, when England played South Africa (on March 1st) in Karachi, then the semifinal lineup would have been decided easily. It was a blunder from the ICC and all the stakeholders. You have one job: to check the schedule, and you missed the mistake. Once you agreed, and now your team is out, you are whinging. All the representatives of the cricket boards are to blame. You should not go to the ICC meeting to have a good time. Do your job properly," he added.

"If India is getting all the support, but you all agreed to it, let's say we Pakistanis are making excuses because of jealousy, but the rest of the world should not moan about this issue. You all agreed to this schedule."

What did India feel about Dubai narrative?

The Indian team rather had a conflicting view on the matter. After captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir dismissed the insinuations.

"There's a lot of debate about the undue advantage and all that. What undue advantage? We haven't practiced here even for a day. We're practicing at the ICC Academy. And the conditions there and here are 180 degrees different," Gambhir said after India's semifinal win against Australia.

"If you look at the wickets there and here, the difference is between the ground and the sky. Some people are just perpetual cribbers, man. They've got to grow up. So, I feel that there was nothing like we had any undue advantage or we had planned something like that."

However, veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami agreed that playing all matches at venue worked in India's favour.

"It definitely helped us because we know the conditions and the behaviour of the pitch," Shami said, as quoted by AFP. "It is a plus point that you are playing all the matches at one venue."

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