Bangladesh’s head coach, Chandika Hathurusingha, expressed his displeasure at the decision to allocate a reserve day exclusively for the India-Pakistan clash in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup. He noted that such an arrangement is unprecedented in any other tournament.
The tournament organizers recently announced that the India-Pakistan match in the Asia Cup’s Super Four stage, scheduled for September 10 in Colombo, would have a reserve day in case rain affects the highly anticipated game.
India and Pakistan had previously faced off in the league stage at Pallekele, where the match had to be abandoned due to persistent rain. The likelihood of rain affecting all the Asia Cup matches in Colombo is high.
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Hathurusingha commented, “I’m sure there is a technical committee, represented by every participating country, six nations. So, they must have decided with some other reason. Yes, it’s not ideal. We would love to have an extra day as well. Other than that, I don’t have much comment on that because they have made a decision.”
The absence of reserve days for other matches could result in points being shared between two participating teams, leading to a complex situation in determining the finalists. Hathurusingha stated, “We haven’t spoken about that (reserve day) because once you’ve made a decision, we don’t have much say.”
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“So, if we were consulted before, we would have our comment, but because it’s already made, I don’t have any concern. And we just get on with what we were asked. I haven’t seen this kind of thing in another tournament. Changing rules in the middle of the tournament, so that’s the new thing I can add to that,” he added.
Former Bangladesh captain and current BCB director Akram Khan, who represents Bangladesh in the ACC’s Asia Cup technical committee, mentioned that their opinion was not sought by ACC regarding the reserve day for the India-Pakistan match. “The decision was taken by ACC, and it was not discussed with us.”
Sri Lanka’s head coach, Chris Silverwood, also expressed surprise over the allocation of a reserve day for the India-Pakistan clash, highlighting that such a move could create an unfair advantage for the two teams. “Yeah! Look, obviously, I was a little surprised when I heard it first. But we don’t organize the competition, so we can’t do a whole lot about it, right? To be honest, I see it only becoming a problem if it provides points to the teams and affects us.”
-IANS
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