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Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin sympathises with South Africa middle-order batter David Miller who complained about the amount of travel involved in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 due to hybrid model. After scoring the fastest ODI half-century in Champions Trophy history, Miller had blamed the hectic schedule for the "not an ideal situation" which led to their loss to New Zealand.
"It's only an hour-and-40-minute flight, but the fact that we had to do that [was not ideal]. It's early morning, it's after a game, and we had to fly. Then we got to Dubai at 4pm. And at 7.30 in the morning we had to come back. It doesn't make it nice. It's not like we flew five hours, and we had enough time to recover and recuperate. But it was not an ideal situation still," Miller told the reporters after the 50-run loss at The Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
Group B teams South Africa and Australia had to travel to Dubai as it was undecided till the last group stage whether they will face India or New Zealand. While Australia stayed back as India beat New Zealand, South Africa had to travel back to Lahore along with the BlackCaps for the semifinal.
Ashwin said that he understands Miller's point but the schedule and venue of the tournament were pre-decided. He also pointed out the amount of travel Team India did during ODI World Cup 2023 despite being the home team.
“In the 2023 World Cup, we played at nine different venues. I was with the team, I traveled with the team. I agree with David Miller, a one and a half hour flight does increase lactic acid in your body. But you must understand it is not in the Indian team’s hands. The ICC has made the fixtures. This schedule was decided even before an Indian became ICC chief,” he said on his YouTube channel.
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When South Africa played all matches at one venue
Ashwin also recalled when South Africa played all their Champions Trophy 2009 matches at a single venue but still could not make it to the knockout stage.
“Tournaments are won on the basis of performances, not excuses. I am laughing when people ask our captain and coach the same question about having an advantage playing in Dubai. In the 2009 Champions Trophy, South Africa played all their games at the same venue and even then they failed to qualify for the knockouts. It was not South Africa’s fault that they didn’t qualify then. Teams qualified only because they play good cricket,” he said.
India will face New Zealand in the final of the Champions Trophy 2025 on March 9. The last time they met in the final was in the 2000 edition.
