Tim Wigmore of the British newspaper The Telegraph has taken a dig at India, saying the reputation of the game has been sacrificed to benefit the country in the Champions Trophy, while stressing that India is using its power to prevent Pakistan from hosting the final.
Wigmore, the Deputy Cricket Correspondent, termed the entire saga a “complete disgrace”. The two venues of the Champions Trophy are Pakistan and the UAE. The final is scheduled in Lahore, but if India reaches it, it will be played in the UAE.
Wigmore did not mince his words when dissecting that one country has so much power that it can prevent another country from hosting the final. The venue of the final will not be known until March 4, i.e. five days in advance, there is no example of this anywhere.
Lahore is preparing again after hosting the 1996 World Cup final, the fans and organizers do not know whether the final will be held there or not.
Pakistan was awarded the 2025 Champions Trophy with 15 matches, but India was not given the option to play the matches in another country, Tim said.
Wigmore pointed out that the seven countries in the event do not know where they will play the knockout matches; only India knows where they will play in the semi-finals and finals.
ICC events continue to sacrifice the reputation of the game for Indian interests. In the 2019 World Cup, India did not play a match for eight days after the start of the tournament, while South Africa was playing the third match, Tim wrote.
A gap of 15 days has been added from the end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to the international match. In the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups, India’s final group matches were kept at the end to see the run rate.
India’s final matches in the T20 and ODI World Cups were played against weaker opponents. This year, India’s semi-final was held in Guyana without considering the group position in the T20 World Cup, Tim said.
In the Champions Trophy, India will have to form a squad according to the conditions of one country, while the other seven teams will have to look at the conditions of two countries for their squads.