COLOMBO – Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Jay Shah came up with a weird reason to defend the body’s decision to select Sri Lanka as co-host of the Asia Cup 2023.
Shah, who is also the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, came under criticism for his decision to choose Sri Lanka after Pakistan vs India match was affected by rain last week and ended in no result.
The ACC chief told India Today that the decision to pick Sri Lanka was taken after other teams opposed the United Arab Emirates as venue due to heat.
“All the full members, media rights holders, and in-stadium rights holders were initially hesitant to commit to hosting the entire tournament in Pakistan. This reluctance stemmed from concerns related to the security and economic situation prevailing in the country,” Shah said in a statement.
The decisions regarding the Asia Cup 2023 were made while keeping in mind the health of the players ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023 scheduled to begin next month in India.
The statement by Shah is contrary to the ground realities as Pakistan is still hosting the games of Asia Cup 2023, which started from Multan late August. Four of five visiting teams have played matches of the tournament in Pakistan, except India, which was reluctant to travel to the neighbouring country due to political tension.
Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh teams visited the South Asian country for the event. A day earlier, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka played a thriller and today (September 6) Pakistan is playing the first Super 4 stage match against Bangladesh with foolproof security in place.
Lately, Pakistan hosted South Africa women team for a three-match T20I series and later the foreign team players were spotted spending quality time and visiting the local markets in Karachi.
A day earlier, Former PCB chairman Najam Sethi called out the ACC chief for his attempts to disturb the ongoing tournament.
BCCI/ACC informed PCB today that they had decided to shift next India-Pak match from Colombo to Hambantota because of rain forecasts. Within one hour they changed their mind and announced Colombo as the venue. What’s going on? Is India afraid to play and lose to Pakistan ? Look… pic.twitter.com/8LXJnzoXNf
— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) September 5, 2023
“BCCI/ACC informed PCB today that they had decided to shift next India-Pak match from Colombo to Hambantota because of rain forecasts. Within one hour they changed their mind and announced Colombo as the venue. What’s going on? Is India afraid to play and lose to Pakistan ? Look at the rain forecast!,” he said on X.
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