The Asian Cricket Council’s choice to preserve a reserve day just for the India vs. Pakistan Super 4 stage match in the Asia Cup 2023 has not been well received by Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood or Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha. The ACC confirmed on Friday that the highly anticipated India-Pakistan match will have a backup day on September 11 (Monday), in case the game is postponed in Colombo owing to inclement weather on September 10 (Sunday). The forecast for this weekend and the following week is not favorable. On Sunday, there is a 90% probability of rain.
The India vs. Pakistan game will resume on Monday where it left off on Sunday. The privilege won’t be extended to the other teams. They will split the points if the game is called off because of bad weather or rad.
The first Super 4 encounter of the Colombo leg is between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and the coaches of both sides were a little miffed about the reserve day advantage India and Pakistan will receive for their match.
“Each of the six competing nations is represented on the technical committee for the Asia Cup. During the pre-match news conference prior to Bangladesh’s Super 4 match against Sri Lanka on Saturday, the coach speculated that they may have made the decision for another reason.
Hathurasingha hinted that no attempt was made to reach a consensus on the matter and added that his squad would have preferred to have a reserve day.
The fact that only India and Pakistan get an extra day for their game is not ideal, he continued. “We would have preferred to have an extra day.”
Hathurasingha also made a suggestion that the relevant officials made their decision without consulting any other teams.
Hathurasingha stated, “However, I have no further comment on this as they have already made a choice and had they approached us earlier we would have provided our opinion.
Only India and Pakistan have a reserve day for their match, which is not ideal, he continued. “We would have preferred to have an extra day,” he said.
Hathurasingha also made a suggestion that the officials in question did not consult with other teams before making their choice.
Hathurasingha said, “However, I have no further comment on this as they have already made a choice and had they informed us earlier we would have provided our opinion.
