Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah defended the scheduling of Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka as part of the hybrid model along with the original hosts Pakistan after ex-PCB chairman Najam Sethi came out all guns blazing given the monsoon situation in the island nation.
After Team India’s second match in a row was interrupted by rain in Pallekele, Sethi on Twitter (X) said that he had warned the ACC management and chief Jay Shah that rain in Sri Lanka would impact the results and attendance in the games and gave the UAE as an option given a couple of IPL seasons, the last year’s Asia Cup T20 and an ODI Asia Cup have taken place in the Emirates in the same time period only.
Now, Shah has hit back at Sethi explaining why the games couldn’t be scheduled in the UAE saying that the heat is a big factor at this time of the year and the resultant fatigue for the players wouldn’t have been ideal ahead of a marquee event like the Cricket World Cup.
“The Asia Cup 2022 edition was played in the UAE in the T20 format. It’s important to emphasize that the dynamics of a T20 tournament cannot be directly compared to those of a 100-over One-day format. In this context, ACC members received feedback from their respective high-performance teams, expressing concerns about playing One-day matches in the UAE in the month of September. Such a schedule could have potentially led to player fatigue and an increased risk of injuries, particularly right before the all-important ICC Cricket World Cup,” Shah said in a statement.
Shah also mentioned that security concerns from all the full-member boards meant that the tournament could not be held in Pakistan but still agreed on a hybrid model to give the hosts some leverage and the home fans a chance to witness a big tournament in the tournament despite the economic conditions in the country and the several changes the PCB leadership underwent.
Out of the three games played in Sri Lanka so far, two matches have already been affected by rain, out of which the marquee clash between India and Pakistan got washed out. The forecast doesn’t look good for the rest of the week in Colombo, however, the ACC has decided to not go for a change in the venue at the last minute.
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