Jos Buttler takes a dig at India for only playing in Dubai: It’s a unique tournament-OxBig News Network

England captain Jos Buttler has taken a sly dig at India’s advantage in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025, who’re playing all of their matches at the same venue in the tournament. After denying to travel to the host country, Pakistan, India are playing all of their matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, where the pitches are heavily favouring their spin-heavy attack.

Recently, Buttler was asked about India’s advantage in playing at one venue and the England captain called it a ‘unique tournament’ where one team is playing its matches outside of the official host country. He also said that he isn’t worried too much about it and is only thinking about the game against Afghanistan.

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“Not really. I think it’s a unique tournament already, isn’t it, with being hosted here with one team playing in a different place but that’s not something I’m sort of worried too much about at the moment. I’ve got all my focus on preparing well tonight and our game tomorrow,” said Buttler in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Afghanistan game.

In two matches played so far, Indian spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel have picked up three wickets each, while Ravindra Jadeja has claimed one scalp. Speedster Mohammad Shami is the leading wicket-taker with five wickets, followed by Harshit Rana (4 wickets) and Hardik Pandya (2 wickets).

The Men in Blue have already qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament following clinical victories against Bangladesh and Pakistan by six wickets. They will face New Zealand in the third and final group fixture on March 2. India will play their semi-final on March 4 in Dubai and will also play the final of the competition in Dubai, provided they qualify for the same.

Meanwhile, England will face Afghanistan in a must-win encounter after losing their first match against Australia. The Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side stunned them with a defeat during the ODI World Cup 2023 and will hope for the same in the upcoming fixture as well.