Van der Dussen – ‘Don’t have to be rocket scientist’ to know playing all games in Dubai gives India advantage
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“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,” van der Dussen said from Karachi, where South Africa will play their last group game against England. “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. The pressure would be on them to get it right because they have all that knowledge.”
“See, they are in Dubai for a reason,” Aaqib said. “If they are playing in Dubai for a reason, definitely if you play on the same pitch or ground, you will have an advantage. But we are not losing because they had the advantage of the same hotel and pitch (laughs). It’s not just because of the pitch, and neither did they play some ten matches there.”
One of the gains India has is the certainty that comes with knowing the venue of all their games, including the knockouts, while other teams will have to wait to confirm their arrangements. In this case, while the outcome of the Australia vs Afghanistan game on Friday could confirm Group B’s semi-finalists, the positions in the group will only be known after South Africa’s match against England on Saturday. Should South Africa qualify for the semi-finals, they will either play India in Dubai on Tuesday or New Zealand in Lahore on Wednesday.
Asked which he would prefer, van der Dussen personally indicated the latter but said the team would be up for either task. “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,” he said. “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.”
Though South Africa have been in Pakistan for almost three weeks, playing in a mini tri-series before the Champions Trophy, and have selected their squad accordingly, van der Dussen believes they have the resources for any venue. “As a team, team-wise, conditions-wise, we’ve got everything in the locker to adapt to what’s going to be in front of us. I’m not too worried as a team. There’s no location that will suit us better or worse.”
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