“Poor excuses were made,” Najam Sethi accuses BCCI of involving politics in cricket after rain washed away India-Pakistan clash in 2023 Asia Cup
The match was played on Saturday (September 2) at the Pallekele Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka, and multiple rain disruptions hampered the progress of the game before it was eventually called off.
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Najam Sethi, Jay Shah (Images via Cricket Pakistan)
The much-awaited India–Pakistan clash of the 2023 Asia Cup ended up without a result with both the teams sharing a point each. The match was played on Saturday (September 2) at the Pallekele Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka, and multiple rain disruptions hampered the progress of the game before it was eventually called off.
After the match, former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for mixing politics with cricket. He took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his disappointment over how a big match like India-Pakistan couldn’t take place due to BCCI’s stance on Sri Lanka being the co-host of the 2023 Asia Cup along with Pakistan.
Sethi revealed that he urged the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) to give UAE the hosting rights but BCCI complained of extreme weather conditions in the Middle East country and after a lot of delay, finally Sri Lanka was given the hosting rights.
“How disappointing! Rain mars the greatest contest in cricket. But this was forecast. As PCB Chair, I urged the ACC to play in UAE but poor excuses were made to accommodate Sri Lanka. Too hit in Dubai, they said. But it was as hot as when the Asia Cup was played there last time in Sep 2022 or when the IPL was played there in April 2014 and Sep 2020. Politics over sport. Unforgivable!,” wrote Sethi on X.
Check his tweet below:
Reports say Sri Lanka continuously told ACC about rain possibility in Kandy
Recent reports say that the Sri Lanka Cricket Board repeatedly told ACC about a 90 percent chance of rainfall in Kandy on the match day, suggesting changing the venue to Dambulla. But despite that, BCCI insisted on playing the match in Kandy.
The latest reports even say that the PCB sources revealed that the BCCI had threatened to boycott the continental tournament if the venues were not selected as per its wishes.
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Gouri Das
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