‘We Guessed Right…’: Steve Smith Says ‘Ideal’ For Australia To Have Arrived In Dubai Earlier
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Both Australian and South African teams flew to Dubai despite knowing one of them will have to fly back to Pakistan depending on result of final Group A match.
Steve Smith-led Australia will face India in the first semifinal today. (AP Photo)
Two days before the first semifinal of the Champions Trophy, Group B teams South Africa and Australia didn’t know where they will be playing their respective knockout fixture. The first semifinal was slated for Dubai while the second in Lahore.
India faced New Zealand in the final Group A match of the competition and its winner would have faced the second-placed team from the other group.
However, as per the Hybrid Model, India were to play their semifinal clash in Dubai irrespective of whether or not they top their group. So, both South Africa, who topped their group, and the second-placed Australia flew to Dubai to train ahead of the semifinals.
And one of them would fly back to Lahore depending on the result of India-New Zealand group fixture.
As it turned out, India topped Group A meaning Australia stayed back.
“We guessed right in the end,” Australia captain Steven Smith said on Monday. “So yeah, ideal to be here and have a couple of days’ preparation. I think had we stayed and waited for last (Sunday) night’s result, we would have had to have flown here today (Monday) and play tomorrow (Tuesday).
Smith feels that the arrangement made sense since it allowed Australia to familiarise themselves with the conditions in Dubai.
“We wouldn’t get a chance to train on the surface or get used to the conditions that we have at the (ICC Cricket) academy and if we had to go back, we would have just got on the same plane back as New Zealand and had a day there before playing. So this arrangement made sense to us,” he said.
The players, Smith said, are relieved that they don’t have to follow the strict security protocols put in place in Pakistan for the high-profile event.
“We had a little reset and a chance to have a couple of days here outside of a pretty strict sort of bubble in Pakistan with the security and stuff. It’s been nice to just have a couple of days to chill here. A couple of guys have played some golf and wandered around and done some stuff like that. So yeah, we’re well prepared for tomorrow now and looking forward to it,” he said.
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
