Miller Slams ICC's Scheduling of Champions Trophy in Hybrid Mode

South Africa batter David Miller became the latest cricketer to slam the International Cricket Council's (ICC) scheduling of the 2025 Champions Trophy after his side was made to travel to Dubai only to return to Lahore after a few hours of halt for the crucial second semifinal in which the Proteas lost to New Zealand on Wednesday.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

Miller's comments came after his 67-ball undefeated 100 in South Africa's hunt for a mammoth target of 363, went in vain as the Proteas eventually fell short by 50 runs in the crunch affair.

The ICC's bizarre scheduling of the Champions Trophy led both South Africa and Australia to travel to Dubai after completing their respective group fixtures in Pakistan for a potential semifinal against India, who according to a pre-agreed arrangement, were scheduled to play all their matches in Dubai after the BCCI refused to send its team to Pakistan, citing security concerns.

With India beating New Zealand in their last Group A match, the Men in Blue set up a semifinal clash with Australia, thus forcing the Proteas side to return to Pakistan for the second semifinal.

"It's only an hour and 40-minute flight, but the fact that we had to do that was not ideal," Miller said after South Africa lost the semifinal.