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Cummins, although absent from the Champions Trophy, did not hold back from speaking his mind in an interview with Yahoo Australia
Pat Cummins is dealing with an ankle injury. (AFP Photo)
Australia Test captain Pat Cummins strongly criticised an Australian media outlet for misquoting him about India’s perceived advantage at their Dubai venue in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy.
Cummins was expected to lead former champions Australia at the ICC event, but an injury has prevented his participation.
In Cummins’ absence, Steve Smith is leading the current ODI World champions, and they’ve started their campaign by completing a record chase against Ashes rivals England.
Code Cricket, in a deleted X post, alleged that Cummins called out the unfair advantage given to India by the ICC in the Champions Trophy and termed the tournament ‘farce’, saying that teams should not be able to pick and choose where they want to play their matches.
The Aussie pacer took to social media on Tuesday to slam the Australian digital sports platform for fabricating his words.
“I have definitely never said this @codecricketau,” Cummins posted on X.
The entire episode started after Code Cricket published a post on Tuesday alleging that Cummins had slammed the ICC for allowing India to play all their matches at a single venue while other teams had to travel between Pakistan and Dubai. The publication claimed Cummins was unhappy with India getting to “pick and choose” where they played.
Cummins, although absent from the Champions Trophy, did not hold back from speaking his mind in an interview with Yahoo Australia, where he said, “I think it’s good in that the tournament can go on, but obviously, it does give them (India) a huge advantage playing on the same ground. They already look very strong, and they’ve got that obvious benefit of playing all their games there.”
India’s participation in the Champions Trophy has been a point of contention, with the team refusing to travel to Pakistan due to political tensions. As a result, the Champions Trophy 2025 is being played in a Hybrid Model with India’s matches being hosted in Dubai.
As part of the agreement between BCCI, PCB, and cricket’s global governing body ICC, the teams of the two neighbours will not play in each other’s country in global tournaments.
So, all of India’s matches, including a potential final, are being played at the Dubai International Stadium, while other teams must travel between Pakistan and Dubai for their fixtures.
(with agency inputs)
