"Don't play the tournament at all" - Aakash Chopra on India's so-called 'unfair' advantage in 2025 Champions Trophy

Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned repeated claims of the Men in Blue having a so-called 'unfair' advantage in the 2025 Champions Trophy. He noted that the other teams could have withdrawn from the tournament if they felt India were unduly favored.

India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the 2025 Champions Trophy final in Dubai on Sunday, March 9, to win the ICC event for a record third time. While the other teams played in multiple venues, Rohit Sharma and company played all their matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener acknowledged that the Men in Blue had a slight advantage but questioned if the tournament could have been held any other way.

"Was there an unfair advantage? Ian Smith even said on commentary that all teams are wishing and praying that New Zealand win because India are taking an unfair advantage, and I was forced to think a little. I am saying there was a slight advantage, but this tournament happened like that," he said (6:05).

"What could you have done? Either don't play the tournament at all, say that you wouldn't play, it's okay. Even Pakistan won't come to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup. So they will also play at a neutral venue. Asia Cup will also be played at a neutral venue. It's going to happen like that," Chopra added.

Aakash Chopra noted that South Africa played all their league games in Centurion while hosting the 2009 Champions Trophy. He added that no one talked about the Proteas having an unfair advantage in that tournament as they didn't qualify for the knockouts.

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"Saying this after looking back at the result is slightly opportunistic" - Aakash Chopra on claims about India's undue advantage in 2025 Champions Trophy

India won all five of their games in the 2025 Champions Trophy. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra wondered whether the venue advantage would have been highlighted had India failed to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-finals.

"Would you have said the same thing if India had lost their first three games and hadn't qualified, that India had an unfair or undue advantage? Saying this after looking back at the result is slightly opportunistic. I am saying that there was a slight advantage, but you had the chance to leave India out, and say that you would play without them," he said.

The analyst added that India would have played all their games at one venue even if they had agreed to travel to Pakistan.

"In fact, Pakistan had proposed that India would play at just one ground, that is Lahore, travel by road from Amritsar, play the match, and return to Amritsar and stay. So India were anyway supposed to play all their games in Lahore. India weren't going to travel to Rawalpindi and Karachi. So you would have still said they have an unfair advantage," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra partially concurred with Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir's views that the Men in Blue didn't have an advantage as the Lahore pitch would have suited them even more than the Dubai surface. To conclude, he opined that the best team won the 2025 Champions Trophy.