India, Feb. 28 -- "At the end of the day, it's a neutral venue, it's a challenge for both the teams, we don't come and play in Dubai much either."

Shreyas Iyer was on point the other night, after playing a significant hand in India's six-wicket win over Pakistan. The question put to him, by a Pakistani journalist, was how much more satisfying it would have been to beat Pakistan in Lahore or Karachi, say, instead of in Dubai, where India are playing all their Champions Trophy matches. "Any victory against Pakistan is sweet because it's always competitive and it's a challenge and there's a lot of external pressure."

In the last ten days or so, there has been a sea of opinion alluding to the 'advantage' India have been conferred with in th...