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South Africa should have no ill effects from their whistlestop and, in the end, pointless 18-hour trip to Dubai as they prepare to face New Zealand in Lahore in Wednesday's second semi-final of the Champions Trophy, according to batter Heinrich Klaasen.
Australia had an intense three-hour practice session at the ICC Academy on Sunday afternoon with the focus firmly on their play against spin. While senior pros like Steve Smith and Travis Head had a light hit, the youngsters went full throttle. The Australian team opted for seven ICC academy based net bowlers -- all spinners including slow left-arm orthodox Harshit Seth, a 20 year old UAE player, besides two left arm Chinaman bowlers, as many off-spinners and a leg-spinner. Australia finished second in Group B behind South Africa and both teams are camping in the UAE, waiting to know who their opponents will be in the semifinals. Australia will face table toppers from Group A, either India or New Zealand, in their last four clash.
DUBAI: Australia and South Africa have been forced to travel to Dubai from Pakistan, the International Cricket Council confirmed Sunday, due to a tangled schedule at the Champions Trophy. India and New Zealand play the final group match on Sunday in Dubai and the result of the game will decide the semifinal line-up. Australia are in Dubai and will train in the afternoon, when South Africa are expected to fly in from Karachi where they hammered England to get top spot in Group B. The winners of the India-New Zealand clash will play Australia, who finished second to South Africa in their group. But irrespective of the placing and opponent, India will play the first semifinal in Dubai on March 4 after they refused to travel to hosts Pakistan for political reasons. That will leave New Zealand and either Australia or South Africa, hours after landing in Dubai, to head back to Pakistan for the second semifinal scheduled on March 5 in Lahore. Pundits and ex-cricketers had called out the one-venue “farce” at the 50-over tournament after India were allowed to play all their matches at the Dubai International Stadium. The rest of the seven teams in the eight-nation competition had to shuttle between three Pakistan venues — Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore — and the United Arab Emirates. New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips said his team were not thinking about India staying at one venue for the course of the tournament. “No, for us there’s no focus on anything like that,” he said on Saturday. “We have a ‘no-excuses’ mindset.” The final on March 9 will be in Dubai if India go the distance. Lahore’s Qaddafi Stadium will be the venue if India miss out.
Ahead of the crucial India-New Zealand match in Dubai on Sunday, former India opener Robin Uthappa and current UAE head coach Lalchand Rajput shared their insights on India's perceived 'home' advantage and the significance of maintaining momentum in the ICC Champions Trophy. Addressing whether India enjoys a 'home advantage' in Dubai, as the tournament hosts are Pakistan, but India did not play due to political tension, Uthappa stated at the launch of a book -Life Lessons from Cricket, "I will not say it's a home advantage, but there is definitely an advantage of familiarity. I heard an interview where former India opener Wasim Jaffer was saying that there could have been one match in Abu Dhabi, one in Dubai, and one in Sharjah, and definitely that could have been done so that other teams couldn't find a reason to complain.
New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips said on Saturday that he was confident the Black Caps can adapt to the surface in their Champions Trophy group match against India in Dubai where their opponents will be more familiar with the pitch and conditions.
South Africa topped Group B of the ongoing Champions Trophy after beating England in their final league game in Karachi on Saturday. With five points in three matches, South Africa finished ahead of Australia, four points, at the summit of Group B. In Group A, India and New Zealand will face on in a group-deciding clash in Dubai on Sunday. If India beat New Zealand, they will top Group A and set up a semi-final clash with Australia in the first semi-final on Tuesday, March 4, at the Dubai International Stadium. New Zealand will face South Africa a day later in the second semi-final in that case.
The Champions Trophy 2025's scheduling has come under a lot of criticism. India are the only team that is playing in one venue (Dubai). All other teams are playing in different venues, sometimes different countries. So much so, that several players have been quite vocal about the 'venue advantage' of India. Now, according to a report, Group B potential semi-finalists Australia and South Africa will travel to the UAE on Saturday. But strangely one of them will return to India as one of the semi-finals will in Pakistan, while the other will be in Dubai.
Ahead of their all-import clash against England at Karachi, South Africa's right-hand batter Rassie van der Dussen said that the ongoing marquee event will possibly be the last major ICC tournament of his cricketing career. The Proteas will lock horns with the Jos Buttler-led side in their last group stage match of the competition at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday. "It's definitely a possibility that it's my last ICC tournament. I'm not saying that with any preconceived ideas that I'll call time on it, or management will call time on my career. It's just the reality," van der Dussen said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.