Karachi: The Australian team has already left for Dubai while South Africa will leave for the same city late Saturday night ahead of the Champions Trophy semifinals, even though it remains uncertain whether their matches will be held there or not.
Dubai is set to host the first semifinal on Tuesday, with Lahore is hosting the second on Wednesday.
India’s semifinal opponents — either Australia or South Africa — will be known only after their last Group A match against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday.
Due to security concerns in Pakistan, India are playing all their matches in Dubai.
As a result, both Australia and South Africa must travel to Dubai and await the result of Sunday’s game before knowing which team will return to Lahore for the second semifinal.
“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.
Some cricketers, including South African top-order batter Rassie van der Dussen and former Australia skipper Pat Cummins, have said India are in an advantageous position as they have played all their games at one venue while other teams have had to travel to different venues in Pakistan.
The report further added that a situation might arise where Australia might take a three-hour flight from Lahore to Dubai on Saturday, and then fly back on Monday if they do not meet India in the semifinal.
“Similarly, South Africa will fly to Dubai in the early hours of Sunday (after their last group match against England) and could return to Pakistan 24 hours later if they do not have to face India,” added the report.
The team finishing second in Group A will meet the winners of Group B and vice versa.
India will play their knockout game in Dubai on Tuesday whether they finish first or second in Group A.
