ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Was Skewed? Perhaps, but India’s Triumph Was on Merit

India's win in Champions Trophy 2024 was due to cricketing excellence that no travel itinerary could diminish.

India won the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on merit.

(Photo: PTI/Altered by The Quint)

New Zealand – 7048 kilometres. India – Zero. New Zealand – 12+ hours of travel time. India – not a single second. New Zealand – four venues. India – just one.

It is customary for numbers to do rounds during the pre-match discourse of a major cricket final. Those numbers, however, revolve around averages and strikes rates and economy rates.

But prior to Sunday’s (9 March) 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final, where India defeated New Zealand by four wickets to earn their third title, the numbers that were being discussed pertained to kilometres travelled, the number of times a team was confined to aeroplane cabins, and the number of cities they have toured.

A potent narrative emerged: the tournament had been orchestrated for India's triumph. The absence of Pakistani representation in the final – despite Pakistan being the host nation – only intensified these suspicions.

What Was Said Before the Match?

Michael Atherton claimed India had an “undeniable advantage.”

They’re playing at just one venue. They don’t have to travel either between venues or, you know, between countries, as a lot of other teams have to do. Therefore, the selection, you know, can focus in on the conditions in Dubai.

Michael Atherton

Nasser Hussain echoed a similar opinion.

It is an advantage. So, the best team in the tournament have that advantage. And I saw a tweet the other day saying ‘Pakistan host nation, India home advantage.’ It sums it up really. They are at one place, one hotel, they don’t have to travel. They have one dressing room.

Nasser Hussain

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead might not have opined on India’s advantage, but as an afterthought, explained how his team was handed a disadvantageous position.

South African players were slightly on the conspicuous side in this regard. Rassie van der Dussen claimed one does not require rocket science knowledge to understand India’s edge over everyone else. With Delhi Capitals now in the market after Harry Brook’s withdrawal, has he shot himself in the foot? David Miller, who surely will feature for Lucknow Super Giant later this month, voiced his support for the Kiwis in the final.

The Resentment Has Substance to It, but India Can’t Be Blamed

The resentment was not without merit, despite Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir dismissing them as "perpetual cribbing." The Champions Trophy's organizational structure contained inherent flaws. India's decision not to travel to Pakistan created logistical nightmares for other teams.

New Zealand endured a gruelling Karachi-Rawalpindi-Dubai-Lahore-Dubai circuit that resembled an airline's route map more than a sporting schedule. South Africa made an unnecessary journey to the United Arab Emirates before the semi-finals, only to return to Pakistan without playing a match in Dubai. These complications could have been mitigated with thoughtful scheduling –perhaps by having India play the second semi-final, or by implementing a two-day rest window before the knockout stage.

But it wasn’t. India's stranglehold over international cricket has become an incontrovertible reality. From once scampering for tickets, let alone recognition, the nation has seen how the 1983 World Cup triumph, followed by the termination of Doordarshan’s monopoly and Mark Mascerenhas’ WorldTel paying $10 million for TV rights to the 1996 World Cup, the growth has been constant.

It attained a staggering level when, in 2008, BCCI launched the Indian Premier League with a truly unprecedented $1.1 billion television deal and $700+ million franchise fees.

The English Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) cannot escape the blame, for their gatekeeping elitism, broadcasting myopia, stringent criteria for Test status and a two-tier revenue hoarding system paved the way for the coronation for a new player. Which India – owing to globalization in 1991, adoption of a neo-liberal economy, and the gigantic population and growing middle class – capitalised upon.

Yet, to attribute India's Champions Trophy dominance solely to structural advantages or financial disparity – BCCI's $2.25 billion net worth does indeed dwarf New Zealand Cricket's $42 million – would be a disservice to their cricketing brilliance.

Beyond the Narrative: How Doubling Down on Spin ‘Scripted’ India’s Victory

Beyond this narrative, what worked for India was cricketing brilliance. It began with team selection, as the national selectors doubled down on what constitutes the strength of the team’s bowling unit – the spinners.

Contrary to opposition batters' struggles, Dubai's pitch was never a spinning minefield. Historically, pacers have maintained the lowest bowling average in ODIs there, closely followed by left-arm wrist spinners and leg-break bowlers – the last pair being precisely the combination India deployed.

Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav were complimented by the left-arm orthodox spin of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. With this quartet, Gautam Gambhir’s team had every possible base covered – a leggie who has a sharp and deceptive googly, alongside a seam-up ball, a slider and a flipper; a left-arm wrist spinner with an equally good googly (ask Rachin Ravindra) and a flipper, and a pair of SLAs to bring the ball into the right-handers, and deceive them with their arm balls.

The resultant concoction was 26 wickets. Besides, they merely conceded 738 runs in 204.3 deliveries, at an economy rate of 4.51. With an average of 28.38, and a strike rate of 37.73 and 507 dots, they proved to be unplayable.

Best spin bowling average at Dubai in Champions Trophy 2025:

• India – 28.38

• Bangladesh – 37.50

• New Zealand – 40.00

• Pakistan – 40.50

• Australia – 59.67

Best spin bowling strike rate at Dubai in Champions Trophy 2025:

• India – 37.73

• New Zealand – 51.43

• Pakistan – 58.50

• Bangladesh – 60.00

• Australia – 62.33

Merely selecting the spinners, though, was half the job, for captain Rohit Sharma's tactical deployment of this spin arsenal proved masterful.  Chakaravarthy’s timely inclusion helped India dismiss Travis Head when was looking ominous in the semi-final, and break New Zealand’s 57-run opening stand in the final.

Kuldeep Yadav, despite going wicketless against Australia, had retained his place, which he justified with the wickets of Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson. The latter, who was fresh from a century against South Africa, has struggled against left-arm wrist spin. Not only did he lose his wicket to Kuldeep twice in ODI cricket prior to yesterday, but he has also been unsettled by the likes of Lakshan Sandakan and Tabraiz Shamsi. Kuldeep dismissed him in only his second over.

A Word on the Batters

Bowlers were likely to rule the roost in Dubai, but the batters did what was expected from them, scoring 1210 runs at an incredible average of 41.72, where no other team managed to get anywhere near the figure of 30.

Best average at Dubai in Champions Trophy 2025:

• India – 41.72

• Australia – 25.70

• New Zealand – 25.24

• Pakistan – 22.40

• Bangladesh – 21.90

Most tellingly, Indian batters refused to fall into the spin trap they had so expertly set for others – a vulnerability that had previously been their undoing. Rohit Sharma’s troops averaged 43.43 against spinners, as opposed to New Zealand’s 20.93 and Australia's 21.50.

The Verdict

Indeed, India enjoyed advantages unique to their position as cricket's commercial juggernaut – a reality likely to persist through future ICC events. To the victor go the spoils. Advocacy for a more neutral structure, one which has a semblance of equilibrium in power dynamics, is entirely justified.

What is equally justified is that India won the Champions Trophy owing to their sheer cricketing excellence, not cause the structure was skewed.