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Australia and South Africa are facing unusual travel plans for the Champions Trophy semi-finals. Both teams will travel to Dubai before the semi-finals, even though they do not yet know if they will play there or in Pakistan. Dubai will host the first semi-final on Tuesday, while the second match will be played in Lahore, Pakistan, a day later.
India, who are guaranteed to progress from Group A, are playing all of their matches in Dubai after opting not to travel to Pakistan. Group B concludes with South Africa's match against England on Saturday, but neither the Proteas nor Australia will know the venue for their semi-final until after the conclusion of India's match against New Zealand on Sunday. If they were to wait until Monday and only travel when the fixtures were confirmed, it would rule out the possibility of training in Dubai, where India will have played all three group matches.
This situation raises the prospect of Australia taking the three-hour flight from Lahore to Dubai on Saturday, only to have to fly back on Monday if they do not meet India. Similarly, South Africa will fly to Dubai in the early hours of Sunday and could return to Pakistan 24 hours later if they do not have to face India. Whichever team finishes second in Group A will meet the winner of Group B and vice-versa. India are guaranteed to play the first semi-final on Tuesday regardless of their group position.
There has been criticism throughout the tournament of the advantage India holds by playing all of their matches at the same venue. Other teams have played across the four venues in Pakistan and Dubai. South Africa batter Rassie van der Dussen commented on the advantage, stating that staying in one place, one hotel, practicing in the same facilities, and playing in the same stadium on the same pitches every time is definitely an advantage. BBC chief cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew also noted that India are camped out in Dubai, playing in the same ground and same places in the changing room.
Both Australia and South Africa will fly to Dubai, but only one will play there, and the other will get back on a plane to Lahore. The travel arrangements have been made to ensure that the Group B teams making the knockout rounds have at least a day in hand to practice before playing their semi-final. It is not clear why both the semi-finals were not pushed back by a day, as it would have allowed the teams an extra day to travel and train. One reason cited by the organizers is to keep a longer gap ahead of Sunday's final. If India wins on Tuesday, the Champions Trophy winners will be crowned in Dubai. Otherwise, Pakistan will get an opportunity to host the final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
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