India’s victory in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy is being celebrated by some as a historic triumph, but for many in the cricketing world, it will forever be remembered as one of the most controversial tournament wins in modern history. The team’s path to the trophy was suspiciously smooth, raising serious questions about fairness, competitive integrity, and cricket’s increasing susceptibility to political interference.
A Tournament Tailored for India?
For the first time in Champions Trophy history, a team refused to play in the host nation and was still accommodated with an alternate venue. India outright declined to travel to Pakistan due to political tensions, and instead of being forced to forfeit or compromise, they were granted the luxury of playing every single match in Dubai—a neutral but historically familiar ground for Indian cricketers.
Meanwhile, other teams had to navigate different cities, adjust to varied conditions, and deal with travel fatigue, something India was entirely exempt from. The team played all their matches at the same stadium, on the same type of pitch, with no disruptions. Is that what fair competition looks like?
ICC or the BCCI’s Puppet?
The ICC’s decision to allow this special treatment reeks of political favoritism. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is already the richest and most influential cricketing body in the world, and its power was on full display in this tournament. Other nations had no choice but to accept these conditions, further proving that global cricketing bodies are hesitant to challenge India’s authority.
Critics have compared this situation to a “fixed” tournament—not in the sense of match-fixing but in how the conditions were structured to benefit one team disproportionately. If any other team had made similar demands, would the ICC have bent over backward to accommodate them?
A Hollow Victory?
India’s final against New Zealand was impressive on paper, but would they have won the tournament had they played in Pakistan? Their spinners dominated in Dubai, but Pakistani conditions—with their mix of raw pace-friendly pitches and unpredictable bounce—would have been a different challenge altogether. The fact remains: India never had to prove themselves on neutral grounds.
Former cricketers have slammed the tournament setup, with Australian captain Pat Cummins calling it “a farce” and English great Michael Atherton stating that India’s setup gave them an “unfair edge” over every other competing team.
Even Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s post-match attempt to downplay the advantage—saying, “This is not our home”—only added fuel to the fire. If Dubai wasn’t “home,” then why did India insist on playing every match there instead of rotating venues like every other team?
Cricket’s Integrity Under Threat
This Champions Trophy has left a sour taste for many cricket fans. The sport is already struggling with accusations of politicization, corruption, and commercial greed, and this tournament only reinforced those concerns. If cricket is going to be run like a business, where one country’s demands take precedence over fairness, what’s the point of competing?
India’s 2025 Champions Trophy win will always have an asterisk next to it. Their skill as a team is undeniable, but when the conditions are so blatantly in your favor, does the win really count?
One thing is clear: this wasn’t just a cricket match—it was a power play. And once again, the BCCI won.
