LAHORE: Mitchell Santner, droopy-eyed with his hair a mess, yawned as soon as he sat down for his press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday. It’s been a quick turnaround between games for New Zealand and their skipper — two days on from playing their final group game against India in Dubai, here they were preparing for the Champions Trophy semi-final against South Africa on Wednesday.
“It was actually probably more of a day’s sleep by the time we got here,” said Santner, whose side landed in Lahore on Monday afternoon, when asked if New Zealand had a good night’s sleep.
“But yeah, I think it was obviously a tough travel. But I think it was nice to get it done, get here. We can kind of reset. The boys obviously recovered yesterday after the travel, but we’re good to go today and tomorrow.”
The Champions Trophy schedule has come under heavy fire, many accusing it of favouring India. New Zealand played Pakistan in the tournament opener on Feb 19 before playing Bangladesh in their second Group ‘A’ game five days later. Their clash against India came another six days later but it’s been a squeeze between that game and the semi-final, especially since they had to travel from Dubai to Lahore.
“I think scheduling is an issue just all around,” said Santner. “I think when you do have time to rest and recover, I think it’s very important, like you said, with the quick turnaround of games. One-day cricket can be quite exhausting on the body, so I think for us today it might be making sure the bowlers are ready for tomorrow.
“I can’t imagine they’ll be doing much today just getting ready. I think, yeah, I mean, I don’t know what you can change, I think with the heavy international schedule, franchise schedule, and then trying to schedule ICC events, it can be quite a challenge.
“Logistically it looks like a bit of a challenge at times, but I think everyone’s professional about it. As long as you’re ready for the game and be good to go, and then yeah, making sure recovery is quite important.”
New Zealand have a strong sense of familiarity with Pakistan, having won the tri-nation series ahead of the Champions Trophy to go with tours of the country in the last several years. In Dubai, however, they fell prey to India’s web of spin.
“Obviously, the last game against India was on a very different surface,” said Santner. “We know we’ve got experience here on the surface [at the Gaddafi]. It looks like another good wicket here. We played here in the tri-series, I think every game that’s been here has looked like a pretty good surface. So, I think, yeah, we expect another one.”
Santner, however, did not have a preference of where his side would want to play in the final. The final will be held in Dubai if India make it that far. Otherwise, Gaddafi Stadium will be the venue for the showpiece clash.
“I guess first things first is try to get there and we’ll see,” Santner stated. “I guess for me, it probably spins a bit more in Dubai so it’d be nice to go there. But I think whatever happens tomorrow and then we’ll obviously wait and see what happens and who we’re going to play but yeah I think to make a final is obviously a pretty cool feeling so I don’t think it matters too much.”
Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2025
