South African batter Rassie van der Dussen reckons India definitely has the advantage in the ongoing Champions Trophy as they are playing all their matches at a single venue – Dubai. While the other teams are playing their respective matches in three different venues – Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi and would also need to travel to Dubai to play against India, the Men in Blue have had a better chance in acclimatizing to one venue’s conditions.
India has won their first two matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan and have qualified for the semifinals. Rohit Sharma’s team was able to chase down 229 against the Tigers whereas they successfully chased down the target of 242 against the arch-rivals.
Rassie van der Dussen said in the pre-match press conference on Thursday, “It’s definitely an advantage. I saw that Pakistan was commenting about it, but it’s definitely an advantage. If you can stay in one place, stay in one hotel, practise in the same facilities, play in the same stadium, on the same pitches every time, it’s definitely an advantage. I don’t think you have to be a rocket scientist to know that.
“The onus would be on them to use that advantage. In a sense, it puts more pressure on them because whoever is going to play them in the semi or potentially the final is going to go there and the conditions are going to be foreign but they [India] are going to be used to it.”
Meanwhile, so far Pakistan pitches have been good for the batters whereas Dubai’s wicket has some help for the bowlers too. The right-hander said he would prefer to play the semifinal of the tournament in Lahore as logistically it would be easier to travel from Karachi.
“If it’s a personal thing, I would say playing in Lahore because it’s just good to bat there. The Dubai pitch is not as high-scoring as the Lahore but no, I don’t think it really matters. Probably logistically it will be easier to play in Lahore.
“You don’t have to go through an international flight and go to Dubai and literally go to another country to play. Lahore is not too far from where we are at the moment, so conditions are fairly similar. It’s literally one of those things, we don’t know what’s going to happen until Saturday evening.”
South Africa will take on England in Karachi on Saturday.
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