India playing all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai was a pre-tournament decision and the talk of unfair advantage is baseless, the team's batting coach said on Friday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Rohit Sharma's team face New Zealand in the title clash on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium, where India have been unbeaten in four matches.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India 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>\r\n\r\n
"The draw that happened, it happened before," batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told reporters. "After India winning four matches, if people feel that there is an advantage, then I don't know what to say about it."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The tournament's tangled schedule, with teams flying in and out of the UAE from Pakistan while India have stayed put, has been hugely controversial.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
South Africa batsman David Miller said "it was not an ideal situation" for his team to fly in to Dubai to wait on India's semi-final opponent and then fly back to Lahore in less than 24 hours.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Even nominal hosts Pakistan had to jump on a jet and fly to Dubai to play India, rather than face them on home soil.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The pitches have been vastly different in the two countries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pakistan tracks produced big totals, in contrast to the slow and turning decks of the Dubai stadium.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"End of the day, I think in a game, you have to play good cricket every day when you turn up," the 52-year-old Kotak said. "So the only thing they (critics) may say is that we play here. But that is how the draw is."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"So nothing else can happen in that. It is not that after coming here, they changed something and we got an advantage," he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India have been the team to beat after they topped Group A, which had New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
They then beat Australia in the first semi-final.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
New Zealand, led by Mitchell Santner, lost the last group game to India by 44 runs before they beat South Africa in the second semi-final in Lahore.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kotak said the previous result between the two teams will have no bearing on their mindset going into the final.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"That depends how the New Zealand team thinks, but I think we should not think that," said Kotak.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We should just try and turn up and play a good game of cricket because there is no use thinking about the last match."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said they are not too worried about India's advantage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I mean, look, the decision around that's out of our hands," said Stead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"So, it's 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'll learn very quickly from that experience there as well."<\/p>\r\n\r\n