The New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner has said that New Zealand have endured Champions Trophy 2025 some hectic schedule ahead of the semi-finals clash against South Africa.
New Zealand played their final group-stage match against India in Dubai before travelling to Pakistan to play their semi-finals of the tournament.
During the pre-match conference, Mitchell Santner said that ODIs can be physically tolling. Santner said the New Zealand will be trying to prepare the bowlers for Wednesday’s match.
He also admitted that with the current international and franchise leagues schedules, the New Zealand captain admitted that he is not entirely sure about what can be altered.
“I think scheduling is an issue just all around. 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.”
Semi-final ready 🇳🇿💪#SAvNZ #ChampionsTrophy pic.twitter.com/zPB0OZxdSX
— ICC (@ICC) March 4, 2025
“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,” said Santner.
“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,” he added.
Mitchell Santner joked that the players’ rest was more akin to a day’s sleep before the semi-final following the journey from Dubai.
“It was actually probably more of a day’s sleep by the time we got here. 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 had a good sleep last night. So, getting ready for today and tomorrow,” said Santner.
The second semi finals of the ICC tournament will be played on March 05 at Gaddafi Stadium.
