LAHORE: The President of Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Jay Shah, has made a mockery of the Asia Cup 2023 after it emerged that the Super 4 matches will be held in Colombo, as originally planned, instead of Hambantota.
Earlier, the ACC had decided to shift all the Super 4 matches of the Asia Cup 2023 to Hambantota as a long rain spell is expected in Colombo for the next 15 days.
The decision was taken after closely looking at the weather forecast and the possibility of rain disturbing the matches. The decision was also conveyed to all members of Shah-led ACC through an email.
However, soon after, the email was retracted with the ACC saying that the matches will be held in Colombo as per schedule.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is unhappy over the unilateral decision by the ACC and has called for an urgent meeting to resolve the matter.
The PCB is facing logistical issues due to the sudden change in venue for Asia Cup 2023 matches, meanwhile the players are also anxious because of the lack of clarity over the upcoming matches.
Shah, who is also the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was also involved in making late changes to the ICC World Cup 2023 schedule which led to criticism from cricketing circles.
Asia Cup schedule of remaining matches
Group Stages
Sept 5 - Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka in Lahore at 2:30 pm (PST)
Super 4s
Sept 6 - A1 vs B2 in Lahore at 2:30 pm (PST)
Sept 9 - B1 vs B2 in Colombo at 2:30 pm (PST)
Sept 10 - A1 vs A2 in Colombo at 2:30 pm (PST)
Sept 12 - A2 vs B1 in Colombo at 2:30 pm (PST)
Sept 14 - A1 vs B1 in Colombo at 2:30 pm (PST)
Sept 15 - A2 vs B2 in Colombo at 2:30 pm (PST)
Sept 17 - Final in Colombo at 2:30 pm (PST)
*Positions irrespective of teams' positions after first round
- Pakistan will remain A1
- India will remain A 2
- If either of them (India and Pakistan) don't qualify for Super 4s then Nepal will take their position
- Sri Lanka will remain B1
- Bangladesh will remain B2
- If either of them (Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) don't qualify for Super 4s then Afghanistan will take their position
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.