Since India started their Champions Trophy campaign in 2025, there have been multiple criticisms coming from corners on the added advantage of playing in a single venue. And now the India head coach, Gautam Gambhir, has hit back, saying Dubai is a neutral venue provided to them. After a thrilling 4 wicket victory against the semi-final, Gambhir addressed the ongoing debate, calling out critics for their "constant complaints." He made it clear that India’s schedule was not a special favor but a decision based on security concerns. The Champions Trophy drama has not been new to all. That India had security issues, the ICC granted India's plea of not traveling to Pakistan and to play all matches in Dubai. And this has triggered the critics. The players have answered in their own way, and now when the same question came flying to Gambhir, he played with a straight bat. Primarily, he is not someone of emotions and punctuation, but last night pressy saw him a bit agitated. Addressing the venue issue, Gambhir lashed out, saying, "First of all, this is as neutral a venue for us as it is for any other team. We have not played here. I don't remember which tournament we played in this stadium last. And in fact, we didn't plan anything like that. The plan was that if you pick two front-line spinners in the 15-man squad, then even if we played in Pakistan or anywhere, we would have picked two front-line spinners because it was a competition on the subcontinent." Read also: Gambhir on KL Rahul’s Batting Order: ‘It’s About Team Impact’ Gambhir clarifies "unde advantage" criticisms India has played all their matches in Dubai, leading to criticisms from former cricketers and players, including Nasser Hussain, Mike Atherton, Rassie van der Dussen, and Pat Cummins, who claimed India had a clear advantage. The situation was like this: South Africa, after uncertainty about their semifinal location, had to travel back to Lahore to play New Zealand, but India already knew they would play their semifinal in Dubai if they qualified. Many saw this as an unfair advantage, but Gambhir was having none of it. Beyond the "comfort," there were questions surfacing regarding India getting familiar with the pitch. Earlier, Rohit had his words after the win against New Zealand, saying that pitch behaves differently each day. And last day, Gambhir mentioned ICC Cricket Academy, where the team normally practices. Gambhir added, "And there's a lot of debate about the undue advantage and all that. What undue advantage? We haven't practiced here even for a day. We're practising at the ICC Academy. If you look at the wickets there and here, the difference is between the ground and the sky. Some people are just perpetual cribbers, man. They've got to grow up. So, I feel that there was nothing like we had any undue advantage or we had planned something like that." Amidst criticisms, India is still into the finals, and they need just one win to clinch the title. The final will be played in Dubai on March 9, Sunday.