\n
\n\tDUBAI:\u00a0India playing all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai was a pre-tournament decision and the talk of unfair advantage is baseless, the team\u2019s batting coach has said.<\/p>\n
\n\tRohit Sharma\u2019s team face New Zealand in the title clash on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium, where India have been unbeaten in four matches.<\/p>\n
\n\tIndia refused to tour hosts Pakistan in the eight-nation tournament due to political tensions and were given Dubai as their venue in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe draw that happened, it happened before,\u201d batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told reporters. \u201cAfter India winning four matches, if people feel that there is an advantage, then I don\u2019t know what to say about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe tournament\u2019s tangled schedule, with teams flying in and out of the UAE from Pakistan while India have stayed put, has been hugely controversial.<\/p>\n
\n\tSouth Africa batsman David Miller said \u201cit was not an ideal situation\u201d for his team to fly in to Dubai to wait on India\u2019s semifinal opponent and then fly back to Lahore in less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n
\n\tEven nominal hosts Pakistan had to jump on a jet and fly to Dubai to play India, rather than face them on home soil.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe pitches have been vastly different in the two countries. Pakistan tracks produced big totals, in contrast to the slow and turning decks of the Dubai stadium.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cEnd of the day, I think in a game, you have to play good cricket every day when you turn up,\u201d the 52-year-old Kotak said. \u201cSo the only thing they (critics) may say is that we play here. But that is how the draw is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cSo nothing else can happen in that. It is not that after coming here, they changed something and we got an advantage,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\n\tIndia have been the team to beat after they topped Group A, which had New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
\n\tThey then beat Australia in the first semifinal.<\/p>\n
\n\tNew Zealand, led by Mitchell Santner, lost the last group game to India by 44 runs before they beat South Africa in the second semifinal in Lahore.<\/p>\n
\n\tKotak said the previous result between the two teams will have no bearing on their mindset going into the final.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat depends how the New Zealand team thinks, but I think we should not think that,\u201d said Kotak. \u201cWe should just try and turn up and play a good game of cricket because there is no use thinking about the last match.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tNew Zealand head coach Gary Stead said they are not too worried about India\u2019s advantage.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI mean, look, the decision around that\u2019s out of our hands,\u201d said Stead.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cSo, it\u2019s not something we worry about too much. India have got to play all their games here in Dubai. But as you said, we have had a game here and we\u2019ll learn very quickly from that experience there as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAnd if we\u2019re good enough to beat India on Sunday, then I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be very, very happy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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