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Both Australia and South Africa could risk not training in Dubai for a possible semi-final clash against India due to scheduling issues.
Australia and South Africa face a big choice on their travel plans ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal. (AP)
Both Australia and South Africa face uncertainty regarding their travel plans for the semifinal stages of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025. With both sides having secured qualification, it is yet to be confirmed as to whether they would play their knockout game in Pakistan or Dubai.
Dubai is set to host the first semifinal on Tuesday, while Lahore will host the second on the next day. Australia and South Africa would have to wait on the result of the India vs New Zealand game to gain clarity regarding who they would face.
All of India’s games will be played in Dubai due to security concerns in Pakistan, and this means they would have to wait until tomorrow to see where they would be headed for their game. Should India secure a spot in the final, it would also mean that the title clash would be shifted to Dubai as well.
Both Australia and South Africa would face a tough choice to make regarding travel as a report by the BBC claims that should the team wait until Monday to confirm their venue, and if it is against India, it would mean that the side would not be able to train in Dubai as well and get accustomed to the conditions there.
“Group B concludes with South Africa’s match against England on Saturday but neither the Proteas or Australia will know the venue for their semifinal until after the conclusion of India’s match against New Zealand on Sunday,” wrote BBC on Saturday.
“Were they (Australia and South Africa) to wait until Monday and only travel when the fixtures were confirmed, that would rule out the possibility of training in Dubai -– where India will have played all three group matches,” it added.
Former English cricketers Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton had mentioned that India playing all their games in Dubai would put them in an advantageous position considering their familiarity with the venue, playing all their group-stage and knockout games in the same venue.
Once all the group-stage fixtures have been completed, the top side from each group would face the side that finished second in the other group. South Africa secured their spot in the semifinals after restricting England to under 200 runs in the final group-stage clash in Karachi on Saturday.
India will take part in their final group-stage game against New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Both teams will look to end the group stage on a positive note with a win and go into the knockout stages with three wins in a row.
