Pat Cummins refutes claims of criticizing India over Champions Trophy 2025 schedule: ‘I have never made such comments’

Australia's regular captain Pat Cummins, who was ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 due to an ankle injury, recently clarified that he was misquoted by an Australian sports website. Cummins had previously commented on the "advantage" India were getting for playing all their matches at the same venue - the Dubai International Stadium - in the Champions Trophy. However, he was mistakenly attributed with calling the tournament "a farce" because of "picking and choosing" of the venue by India. It was actually Veteran England cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew's comments that were wrongly attributed to Cummins by Code Sport.

“I feel very uncomfortable about the way that India is being treated at the moment,” Agnew told ABC Sport. “This is wrong; if you’re going to play international tournaments, you can’t pick and choose where you play and where you’re not going to play. I don’t see how long this can carry on for? It makes a farce of these tournaments.”

Code Sports, however, ran a graphic on its official X handle, crediting the same quotes to Cummins. The Australian fast bowler took note of that and denied it.

“I have definitely never said this,” Cummins said on X.

What Cummins actually said

"I think it's good in that the tournament can go on, but obviously it does give them (India) a huge advantage playing on the same ground. They already look very strong and they've got that obvious benefit of playing all their games there," Cummins told 'Yahoo Australia'.

India have won both their games, against Bangladesh and Pakistan, comfortably so far and are through to the semifinal on March 4, to be held in Dubai.

Their last group match is on Sunday against New Zealand, a team that has so far played in Pakistan, also winning both its games against the home side and Bangladesh.

Cummins is watching the tournament from the sidelines owing to an ankle injury and is targetting a return to competitive cricket with the IPL next month. The break also coincided with the birth of his daughter.

"It's been nice to be at home with everything going on and the ankle rehab is tracking well, so I will start running and bowling this week," the 31-year-old said.

ICC Champions Trophy , ICC Champions Trophy Schedule , and Champions Trophy 2025 Points Table – stay ahead with real-time match updates, team standings, and insights. Check live cricket score , player stats, and ICC rankings of top players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli . Get expert analysis, match previews, and in-depth coverage of ICC CT 2025, IPL 2025 Schedule and IPL 2025, all on HT Crickit, powered by Hindustan Times – your trusted source for cricket news along with AUS vs SA Live Score. .freemium-card h4{color:#fff; padding-bottom:20px;} .freemium-card .freemium-content .subcTxt{padding-bottom:16px; color:#fff;} .freemium-card .freemium-content{width: auto; max-width: inherit;} .freemium-card .freemium-content .subcTxt{max-width:inherit; font-size:18px; padding-top:0; line-height:24px} .freemium-card .btnSubc{margin} .freemium-card .btnSubc a{background:#000; color:#fff; min-width:auto; padding:5px 15px; border-radius:6px; font-size:16px; line-height:22px; font-weight:700;} .freemium-card{height:285px} @media (max-width: 767px) { .freemium-card h4{font-size:28px} .freemium-card .freemium-content{max-width:360px; padding: 20px;} .freemium-card{height:303px; background-position: 100% 0; } }