Of all the teams in this Champions Trophy, New Zealand have had the toughest travel schedule. They began their tournament in Karachi, went to Rawalpindi next, arrived in Dubai to play India in their final group game, played a semi-final in Lahore, and have now traveled back to Dubai for the final.
There have been plenty of suggestions through this tournament that India’s playing all their matches in the same city, at the same venue, amounts to a competitive advantage. New Zealand coach Gary Stead would not be drawn on that, stating that those decisions were “out of [their] hands”.
But he did speak about the demands their hectic travel schedule put on his players. None of New Zealand’s games, additionally, were washed out.
“There’s no doubt…
