“ICC is a toothless tiger,” Arjuna Ranatunga tears apart ICC and ACC for allowing a reserve day for India-Pakistan match

“ICC is a toothless tiger,” Arjuna Ranatunga tears apart ICC and ACC for allowing a reserve day for India-Pakistan match

IND vs PAK (Image via X)

After the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) decided to allow a reserve day for only the India-Pakistan match of the Super Four stage, there have been hues and cries from all corners of the Asian cricket fraternity. Former Sri Lanka captain Arjun Ranatunga blasted the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the ACC for the mid-tournament rule change.

India beat Park by a huge margin of 228 runs on the reserve day. Rain interrupted the match between the two arch-rivals on Sunday (the scheduled date for the match). Not enforcing the reserve day meant that both India and Pakistan would have shared a point each if the match did not continue on the reserve day.

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India lost to Bangladesh in their last Super Four match and if there was no reserve day, then India would get knocked out of the tournament if their Net Run Rate was below Pakistan’s. But the reserve day had a significant impact on the points table. Pakistan, after losing to India and Sri Lanka saw themselves eliminated from the tournament, while Sri Lanka and India advanced to the summit clash. As a result of the reserve day, Ranatunga launched a scathing attack on ICC and ACC.

“ICC is a toothless tiger. They act very unprofessionally. I think they are the ones who should protect cricket. Ultimately cricket should be controlled by the ICC and not by a country. In the Asia Cup, you had rules and you changed rules for one game. So where is ACC? Where is ICC?,” said Ranatunga in a recent media interaction.

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Arjuna Ranatunga takes a dig at BCCI for misuse of power

"ICC is a toothless tiger," Arjuna Ranatunga tears apart ICC and ACC for allowing a reverse day for India-Pakistan match
NEP vs PAK (Image via X)

Other Asian boards participating in the Asia Cup supported the ACC’s decision for a reserve day for the India-Pakistan match. Arjuna Ranatunga questioned these boards why they allowed such rule change just because the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is powerful.

“Why do the other countries allow that (poor scheduling) to happen? Because the BCCI is powerful, or one particular person is powerful. No, it can’t happen like that,” he added.

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