Champions Trophy 2025: There were a few concerns raised by players from England and Pakistan, over India playing all matches in Dubai.
Enough of those talks; That Team India was handed a major advantage in the Champions Trophy, as they were to play all their matches in Dubai only. While the participating teams of course have contrasting views, but then, let us all admit it, there is no money, no excitement without India in any tournament. Plus, no objections were raised by any team.. So the argument falls flat on its face.
No Advantage to India
But then it just becomes only worthwhile to look at the distances that each team has travelled so far in the competition. Once again, before we jump to the dissection of the distances traveled — none of the teams and foreign players have any problem in travelling non-stop during the IPL, and nor is this issue ever raised — so the argument, once again is thrown out of the window.
Getting to the distances now — India of course, broadly did not travel anywhere after their arrival to Dubai, so the distance remains 0. The next team on the list is England, who were placed in Group B, played all their matches in Pakistan only, and were ousted in the first round itself. So, they traveled the second least Km — 1020 to be precise.
Pakistan Bow Out After Travelling 3000 Km
Their first two matches were in Lahore, and the third one was in Karachi. And the distance between the two places is 1200 Km roughly. Similar is the case with Afghanistan in Group B, who played their first match in Karachi, and then moved to Lahore for the last two. Their distance also comes out to be 1200 Km roughly. Next up is Bangladesh in Group A.
The team started out in Dubai vs India. Their next stop was Rawalpindi, where they played their next two. And the air distance between the two cities is roughly 1953 Km. Then come semi-finalists Australia. They played four matches in all — 1st in Lahore, then in Rawalpindi, then back to Lahore and then semis in Dubai. Their air distance is approx 2509 Km.
New Zealand Don’t Crib After 7000 Km, Enter Final
Pakistan, without winning a match traveled 3133 Km. They started out in Karachi, then played India in Dubai, followed by a match vs Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. Even though Proteas played four matches till the semis, they boarded five flights. Started out in Karachi, then went to Rawalpindi, then again Karachi. In anticipation of their semis vs India, they flew to Dubai, and then came back before 12 hours to Lahore, to play New Zealand. Their distance comes out to be 3286 Km.
Lastly, coming to finalists New Zealand, they have managed to play all their matches in different locations. Their first encounter was in Karachi, then played Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, and then India in Dubai. Post that, their semis was in Lahore, and now they come back to Dubai for India vs New Zealand Champions Trophy 2025 final on March 9.
Their total distance traveled is 7048 Km. The team instead of cribbing, focused on their solid performances. And despite the amount of travel they have done, they will still prove to be a handful for Rohit Sharma & Co. in a bid to win their second ICC ODI trophy.
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