England on Wednesday was knocked out of the ICC Champions Trophy after Afghanistan defeated them by 8 runs. This is the second ICC tournament in which England could not qualify for the semifinal. Jos Buttler & Co., under the guidance of Brendon McCullum, have lost 5 matches back-to-back ever since they started the Asia Tour. England suffered a series defeat 3-0 in India, and thereafter, the English team, who is famous for playing the 'Bazzball' brand of cricket, lost their first two matches in the Champions Trophy 2025. Interestingly, former English cricketer & commentators at ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton, accused ICC of favoritism, saying that Team India is enjoying an advantage by playing all their games in a single stadium in Dubai.
Former Team India cricketer & commentator Sunil Gavaskar recently appeared at the DP World Dressing Room that was also streamed on Sports Central YouTube channel. At the show, Sunil Gavaskar came down heavily on Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton and outlined how they never appreciate any other team and always put out some excuse if England suffers defeat. Gavaskar also took a dig at Harry Brook, asking how the light was in Lahore. Below is what Sunil Gavaskar said-
Sunil Gavaskar's reaction to Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton
Sunil Gavaskar reaction to Nasser and Atherton's comment came when former Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram was outlining how the English Team carried only three batters and filled the team with a plethora of fast bowlers and still ended up giving the ball to part timers like Joe Root and Liam Livingstone.
The former Indian cricketer then said, "They will still come and start moaning tomorrow that this happened, that happened. Because of the dew, this happened. See! They cannot lose. If they lose, there has to be an excuse. But the excuse cannot be that they were not good enough on that day or the other team played better. Nothing as such. They will start blaming everything else. Now, they will start blaming India also because India is playing all the matches in Dubai. Why are we not playing all the matches at one place?
Wasim Akram said, "There are two commentators, Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain. I have said that. I have told them that such things should come up before the tournament when the decisions were finalising, then that moment they should raise their voice."
Sunil Gavaskar, who seemed angry then, said, "They have representatives at the ICC. They should have been saying why. But, another question is, can you go without India in a tournament? India would have said no. Then what happens?"
What did Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton say on Team India playing in Dubai?
Speaking to Sky Sports, Michael Atherton had said, "About the advantage India have in playing in Dubai, only in Dubai, which seems to me to be a hard-to-quantify advantage but an undeniable advantage...They are playing at just one venue. They do not have to travel between venues or, you know, between countries as a lot of other teams have to do."
In response, Nasser Hussain said, "It is an advantage. For the best team in the tournament to have that advantage...I saw a tweet the other day: Pakistan - host nation, India - home advantage. That sort of sums it up, really....They are [India] in one place. They are in one hotel. There is no travel. They are in one dressing room. They know the pitch. They picked for that pitch. When they selected, they were very smart. They probably knew what Dubai was going to be like."