Heinrich Klaasen claims the Proteas will just “suck it up” after being forced to travel between Pakistan and Dubai and back again the last couple of days.
The Proteas thrashed England in their final group match on Saturday, but then had to pack their bags for the UAE as their semi-final opponents had not been decided as yet.
But with India, who are scheduled to play all their Champions Trophy matches in the UAE, beating New Zealand in their final group match on Sunday, it meant the Proteas were forced to return to Pakistan to face the Black Caps in Lahore in the second semi-final on Wednesday.
“Look, we knew that was a big possibility that we might fly up and down. So yeah, there's nothing really too (un)common about it,” Klaasen said.
“It's not ideal for the bodies, but at least we had some time to get out and walk around and get loose. I actually just had some nice steak to be fair.
“But other than that, we knew it's going to happen and it's part of the scheduling. So two teams had to do it and unfortunately, we were one of them.
“We haven't really travelled a lot in this competition. It was obviously just a crazy 18 hours, to be fair.
“But both the teams playing in Lahore, they (New Zealand) played a game and they had to travel six hours after the game. We at least had time off to spread our legs and just recover as well before we had to come back. So, in that aspect, there's not a lot of difference.
“I think our bodies will be in a better position than their bodies. But mainly, it's part of professional cricket at this moment and you just have to suck it up and go back and see if you can recover well and just get the job done at the end of the day.”
Klaasen also feels that the Proteas are more comfortable playing in knockout matches with the clash against New Zealand their third ICC semi-final in the last 18 months.
“Yeah, I think the nerves are a little bit less because we have a little bit more experience in the semi-final department now,” he said. “We're playing good cricket and since I've been around from, what's it, 2018, let's say just before COVID, we played some incredible cricket.
“And even the team before I was involved played incredible cricket in the ICC events. We just had some bad luck here and there. And obviously one or two games didn't go away, but we've been playing good cricket.
“And I think that's just the rewards that we've been feeding now. The boys are holding a little bit more composure in the bigger moments in the game. So hopefully we can get into another final.
“We've got the experience now and the big boys need to step up on Wednesday.”
The Proteas are still waiting on Aiden Markram with the vice-captain set to undergo a fitness test on his tight hamstring at training on Tuesday, while captain Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi will be assessed at training after missing the England game due to illness.