England skipper Jos Buttler, in an apparent dig at India's schedule at the Champions Trophy, called the ICC tournament 'unique.' India are playing their matches in Dubai, UAE while the rest of the teams are playing their matches across three venues in Pakistan.

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The arrangement was made after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to send India to Pakistan due to political tensions between the two countries. The decision (to choose Dubai as India's venue), however, was taken with the consent of all participating countries. 

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"I think it's a unique tournament already, isn't it, with being hosted here with one team playing in a different place but that's not something I'm sort of worried too much about at the moment. I've got all my focus on preparing well tonight and our game tomorrow,” said Buttler during the pre-match press conference ahead of the Afghanistan game on Wednesday (Feb 26).

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England in must-win territory

England and Afghanistan match result, barring a washout, will send the losing team out of semis contention. If England win the match against Afghanistan and against South Africa afterwards, they'll be through to the semis. In that case, South Africa would have to hope for Australia to lose against Afghanistan by a huge margin, else Australia will be through to the semis.

In case Afghanistan win the match against England, that will send the Jos Buttler-led side home packing and South Africa almost into the semis. Australia, on the other hand, would have to win their game against Afghanistan, else they'd be hoping for England to beat South Africa and then fight over net run rate for a place in the semis.

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After the washout of the game between Australia and South Africa, all four teams in Group B remain in contention of making it to the semis. The top two teams will advance to the next round, with India and New Zealand already through from Group A.

Currently, South Africa and Australia are at three points each after two games and have one game each left. England and Afghanistan, on the other hand, have played one game each and face each other on Wednesday (Feb 26).