Legendary West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts has launched a scathing attack on the game’s governing body International Cricket Council (ICC) for favoring India in the recently concluded Champions Trophy.
Andy Roberts feels that the Men in Blue can’t get everything in their favor and the ICC must say no to them as well. He raised the topic of the Men in Blue not having to travel during the Champions Trophy, unlike the other teams who travelled back and forth for their matches.
Recently, the Men in Blue won the Champions Trophy by defeating New Zealand by 4 wickets in the final. However, the tournament was full of controversies as the Men in Blue were blamed for having the undue advantage of playing all their matches in Dubai.
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Andy Roberts slams the ICC
During an interview with Mid-Day, Andy Roberts slammed the ICC for its bias and feels that the governing body must be equal for all. He recalled how the Men in Blue initially knew where they would play their semi-final in the last year’s T20 World Cup as well.
“Something’s got to give… India can’t get everything. The ICC must say no to India at times. India even had an advantage at last year’s T20 World Cup, where they knew in advance where their semi-final would be played,” Roberts noted.
“At the Champions Trophy, India did not have to travel at all. How can a team not travel during a tournament?” the legendary quick wondered.
The Men in Blue played the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final in Guyana and the venue was already decided on a premature basis. The reason for this kind of scheduling was that the ICC wanted to keep the Rohit Sharma-led team’s match according to the country’s prime time to have the maximum viewership for the broadcaster.
“ICC stands for the Indian Cricket Board – Andy Roberts
Further speaking on the topic, Andy Roberts even claimed that ICC stands for ‘Indian’ Cricket Board instead of ‘International’. He believes that the ICC can do anything to please the country from which they get the maximum amount of revenue.
“To me, the ICC stands for the Indian Cricket Board. India dictates everything. If tomorrow, India says, ‘listen there should be no no-balls and wides,’ take my word, the ICC will find a way to satisfy India,” said the 74-year-old.
It is well known that most of the game’s revenue comes from the Men in Blue due to its massive fan following. The cricketers in the country have the highest value in the world are considered as national heroes.
Why was the Champions Trophy 2025 played in the hybrid model?
While all the other teams played in Pakistan, the BCCI didn’t agree to send their team to the country due to the refusal of the country’s government. As a result, the tournament was held in a hybrid model.
According to it, the Men in Blue played all their matches in Dubai. Despite qualifying for the semi-final and the final, Rohit Sharma and his men continued to play in Dubai while their opponents had to travel from one country to the other constantly.
Various experts like Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton criticised the ICC for such kind of scheduling and claimed that the Men in Blue have an unfair advantage. However, legendary Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram believes that the Rohit Sharma-led team is so strong that they are capable of winning anywhere.
All said and done, the Men in Blue displayed immense cricketing ability to win all their games in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. This was the 2nd consecutive tournament after the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 where Rohit Sharma’s team won all their games.
As for the 2023 ODI World Cup, the Men in Blue won all their games except for the final which they lost to Australia in Ahmedabad. In the last 3 ICC tournaments, the Men in Blue have won all their games except for the 2023 world cup final, which goes on to show the sheer dominance of the team across formats and conditions.
This has helped the BCCI assert their authority over world cricket and other teams can create such systems and win continuously, they will not be found complaining next time onwards. As for West Indies, they couldn’t qualify for the Champions Trophy 2025.
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