3 min readMar 4, 2026 03:33 PM IST
Dinesh Karthik was at his hilarious best when calling out former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain for what they had said about the advantage India had in the 2025 Champions Trophy when assessing how Pakistan have done in the 2026 T20 World Cup. India played all their matches at the Dubai International Stadium in the Champions Trophy while the other teams played there and at three other grounds in Pakistan and went on to win that tournament.
Pakistan similarly played all their matches in two grounds at Colombo, except for their Super Eights fixtures which they played in Pallekele while the rest of the teams had longer distances to travel in India and Sri Lanka. However, Pakistan failed to make it to the semifinals. Karthik said that he expected both Pakistan and Sri Lanka to do better. “Sri Lanka because home conditions, they’d do something,” said Karthik on a Sky Sports Cricket podcast with Atherton and Hussain. “Generally they are a team that needs a bigger cause and I felt that was the reason (they might reach semis) but clearly that didn’t work out. And then I genuinely thought Pakistan purely because they have played consistently in Colombo, stayed in the same hotel, know the pitches. And both you fossils said that’s one of the main reasons why India did so well in the Champions Trophy.
“By that same accord they should have done something in this World Cup but clearly, it works for one team and it doesn’t (for the other). So genuine lack of skill there. I backed Pakistan to say that they will just fight a lot more but they lost most of the games and in the end almost losing to Sri Lanka was mad.”
Atherton and Hussain had been critical of India for refusing to play the Champions Trophy in Pakistan and stated that the Rohit Sharma-led side had an advantage on other teams as they were not travelling like the rest were. Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha was asked before the start of the T20 World Cup if they had a similar advantage and while he admitted that they did, he also stated that they still would have to play well to win the tournament as that is what India did at the Champions Trophy.
“It is an advantage, the other teams will be travelling and staying in different hotels, playing at different grounds. We also will be playing different grounds in Colombo but will be staying at the same hotel. But that doesn’t mean that we can win even if we don’t play good cricket,” said Agha in a press conference in which Pakistan announced their squad for the T20 World Cup.
“India played well there, that is why they won. We also have to do the same, only then will we win. But yes, there is definitely an advantage.”
