South Africa will leave Karachi and travel to Dubai immediately after the Group B match against England concludes on Saturday. Australia will also be in Dubai by then after having played Afghanistan in Lahore on Friday. But both teams won’t know until the completion of the India versus New Zealand group match in Dubai on Sunday as to who they will face in the semifinals and where their respective matches will be played — Dubai or Lahore. Depending on the semifinal line-up one of the teams will head back to Lahore where they will face New Zealand on Wednesday. Semifinals in two different countries is a result of India refusing to play in Pakistan but that has complicated travel plans for Australia and New Zealand. The first semifinal involving India is scheduled to take place in Dubai on Tuesday, the second in Lahore a day later. The final on Sunday will either be in Dubai or Lahore depending on whether India qualifies or not. “We wanted to give teams as much time as possible to get acclimatised to the conditions in Dubai. Travelling on Monday would have made their preparations complicated,” sources in the ICC said. The hybrid model, which sees India play all of their matches in Dubai, has already witnessed criticism from several quarters. What is also perplexing is why the semifinals are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday with a three-day gap before the final. Having the semifinals on Wednesday and Thursday would have given the teams travelling from Pakistan to Dubai for the semifinals a bit of a respite.
