Even though there was no game scheduled at the 2023 Asia Cup on Friday, the tournament was still very much the buzz of the cricket town. With the Asian Cricket Council adding a reserve day for the India-Pakistan Super 4 game and the final, and for none of the other remaining games which’ll also feature Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the decision was met with widespread criticism.
With the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh game scheduled for Saturday also under rain threat, the two sets of coaches would lend their thoughts on the subject. “Little surprised when I first heard,” Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood said about ACC’s decision to have different playing conditions.
His counterpart Chandika Hathurusingha would echo the sentiment, “It is not ideal, and we also would have liked to have an extra day.” Even though, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) would later state that the decision “was taken with the consent of all four participating teams and ACC.”
Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad would also give his opinion via his social media, bashing the organizers for their decision.
“If true this is absolute shamelessness this. The organisers have made a mockery and it is unethical to have a tournament with rules being different for the other two teams. In the name of justice, will only be fair if it is abandoned the first day, may it rain harder on the second day and these malicious plans not succeed,” Prasad tweeted.
After the last India-Pakistan game in the group stages of the ongoing tournament was washed out, there had been talks around the Super 4 fixture between the arch rivals being shifted to Hambantota instead of the Sri Lankan capital, where it’s been raining incessantly since last week.
But with the aforementioned contest and the other six remaining fixtures staying in Colombo, the ACC have decided to add a reserve day for the game on Sunday and the summit clash.
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