'I'm Not Buying Into It': Steve Smith Denies Anti-Team India Remarks Which Claim Rohit Sharma's Men Being Favoured By The ICC

Champions Trophy 2025: Australia's run in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025 came to an end after a four-wicket defeat against Team India in the semi-final match of the tournament at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 4. The Aussies made a few changes to their playing eleven for their game against the Men in Blue and added Cooper Connolly and Tanveer Sangha.

The Aussies suffered huge blows before the start of the Champions Trophy 2025 and had to come into the tournament with an inexperienced bowling attack. Star players like Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc were left out of their squad for the tournament. In the absence of Cummins, Steve Smith led the Kangaroos as their stand-in skipper. However, the injury concerns didn't end for the Aussies during the tournament. Opener Matthew Short suffered a quad injury during Australia's match against Afghanistan.

Australia started their tournament on a good note after a five-wicket triumph over England in Lahore. The rest of their two group stage matches ended with no result after rain played spoilsport. All of their group stage clashes took place in Pakistan. Before the semi-final of the Champions Trophy 2025, the Aussies travelled to Dubai for their game against Team India.

In the semi-final match, Australia looked totally inexperienced against the Men in Blue. In the first inning, Steven Smith and Alex Carey's stellar half-centuries helped the Aussies give a target of 265 runs to the Men in Blue. While restricting the target, the Aussie bowling attack looked weak as they failed to pick quick wickets in the second inning and had to lose the game.

Recently, many critics have said that the Men in Blue have an 'advantage' in the ongoing ICC tournament for playing at a single venue in Dubai.

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Steve Smith Denies Claims Of India Having Home Advantage In CT 2025

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Smith said that he is not 'buying into' the claims of Team India getting an edge over other opponents. He also heaped praise on Rohit Sharma's side and said that they played good cricket and outplayed the Aussies in the semi-final clash.

"I'm not buying into it. India obviously played some really good cricket here. The surface kind of suits their style with the spinners that they've got and the seamers that they have at their disposal for a wicket like that. They played well, they outplayed us and they deserve the victory," Smith said as quoted by cricket.com.au.

ALSO READ: Steve Smith Announces Retirement From ODIs after Semi-Final Loss Against India In Champions Trophy

Steve Smith Retires From ODIs

After Australia's Champions Trophy 2025 exit, Steve Smith announced his retirement from the ODI format. The 35-year-old made his debut in the 50-over-format in 2010 against the West Indies. Since then, he has played 170 ODI matches and scored 5800 runs at a strike rate of 86.96.