Champions Trophy 2025: Former UAE coach Robin Singh expects spin-friendly pitches for Indian team in Dubai

Pitches are believed to play an important role in any game and the same was reiterated when several teams in the past have raised concerns over the standards of the pitch. The pitches are rated by the International Cricket Council (ICC), given they meet their set standards, the pitches are rated on the scale of satisfactory to unsatisfactory. When it comes to ICC events, the council keeps a close eye on the decks and previously World Cup 2023 final pitch was deemed average and two of the three T20 World Cup 2024 pitches were deemed unsatisfactory. 

Team India will play all of their Champions Trophy 2025 games in Dubai at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Notably, the Men in Blue are going in with a spin-heavy squad and as per the ILT20 2025 stats, spinners have not been successful in taking many wickets. But former India cricketer, Robin Singh, who was also the national coach of the UAE in the past, has backed the slowness of the pitch in the day-time to assist spinners and said that the toss will not be of much importance.

“It’s a closed environment, so when it comes to Dubai a lot depends on which pitch you are playing. So, in Dubai, you have a centre wicket and then you have wickets to the side. So, the sun actually hits the wickets till about 3 to 4 o’clock in the evening. After that, it forms a shadow. So, the wickets to the left generally, it tends to be a little slower because you don’t get enough sunlight for long periods," said Robin as quoted by the Indian Express.

"The way the stadium is built, the sunlight is only there for a period of time. Of course, it will be warm because of the humidity and it will always bring dew into play. But dew is pretty early for that, so it’s not going to come down to toss," he concluded.

“I think they have kept aside a few wickets that they would want to play on. Of course, they have to leave a fair amount of grass so that the wickets won’t turn or disintegrate. So, I think there will be good wickets to bat on. But definitely batting second is an advantage in Dubai. If you’re playing in the daytime and it goes into the night, it tends to be a little slower in the daytime,” he added.

Also Check: Broadcast details for ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 announced

Dubai hosted 15 ILT20 2025 matches

As the ILT20 2025 just concluded, a total of 15 games were played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. In 15 games, spinners have bowled 210.5 overs and have picked just 54 wickets at an underwhelming overall average of around 30 and an economy rate of 7.53.