Gambhir was asked if they knew about the conditions in Dubai when they picked five spinners in their squad, three of them allrounders of varying capability. Gambhir came off the long run in response, taking aim at “perpetual cribbers”.
“See, first of all, this is as neutral a venue for us as it is for any other team,” Gambhir said. “We have not played here. I don’t remember when last we played here. And in fact, we didn’t plan anything like that. The plan was that if you pick two frontline spinners in the 15-man squad, then even if we played in Pakistan or anywhere, we would have picked two frontline spinners because this was a competition in the subcontinent.
“So, it’s not like we wanted to spin a spinners’ web. If you look at it, we only played one frontline spinner in the first two matches. We played two frontline spinners in this match and the previous match.
“And there’s a lot of debate about the undue advantage and all that. What undue advantage? We haven’t practised here even for one day. We’re practising at the ICC Academy. And the conditions there and here are 180 degrees different. 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.”
“Yeah, look, I’m not buying into it,” Smith said. “I think it is what it is. India obviously played some really good cricket here. The surface kind of suits their style with the spinners that they’ve got and the seamers that they have at their disposal for a wicket like that. They played well, they outplayed us, and they deserve the victory.”
However, the tournament’s top wicket-taker, Mohammed Shami, did say the familiarity of playing at the same ground has helped him. It doesn’t mean that what he said directly contradicts what Gambhir said. Gambhir had spoken glowingly about how well Shami prepares for matches. So Shami was asked about his preparations.
“Main thing is to know the conditions and the behaviour of the pitch well,” Shami said. “Because you are playing at one venue, you have an opportunity to get used to the conditions properly. So at practice I keep things simple, and try to bowl according to the pitches for the match.”
When asked if it was a benefit to be playing at the same venue, Shami said: “Definitely. Because you get to know the conditions, the behaviour of the pitch. A lot of things… the way the weather was today, cool, your brain works even more. It can be said that it is a plus point that all your matches have been played at the same venue.”
Having said all that, India’s unbeaten run into the final of another ICC event will gladden many a heart. India lost only the final in the 2023 ODI World Cup, won the T20 World Cup in 2024 without dropping a match, and have won all four of their matches in the ongoing Champions Trophy. Having been through some tough times in Test cricket recently, Gambhir rejoiced the “flawless” performance but was wary of getting ahead of themselves.
“You used a very good word that we played ‘flawlessly’,” Gambhir said. “I think yes we did, but we still have one more game to go. We know that we are a good one-day side, and the most important thing is the way we’ve actually played throughout this competition. The hunger, the commitment, and the eagerness to try and do something special for the country is always there in the dressing room.
“In international sport, you want to keep improving. You don’t say that you’ve ticked all the boxes. There’s always room to improve. There’s always something to improve, be it in batting, fielding, or bowling. And we still haven’t played a perfect game. We still have one more game to go. Hopefully we can play a perfect game.
“And that is the kind of person I am. I will never be satisfied with the performances. We want to keep improving, we want to stay humble, we want to be ruthless on the cricket field, but absolutely humble off the field as well. That’s the kind of team environment and that’s the kind of culture we want to create in that dressing room, and be absolutely honest. So hopefully we can play one more game and play our best game.”
Sidharth Monga is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo