Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga has slammed the International Cricket Council (ICC) and has described it as a “toothless tiger”, which acts very unprofessionally as well. However, His comments came because of the Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) decision to add a reserve day specifically for the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match. Before the tournament, only the final had a reserve day, but the modification was made keeping the bad Colombo weather in mind as well. Taking a dig at ICC, he said that he wouldn’t be surprised if the ICC had a separate rule for the India vs Pakistan match during the World Cup as well.

“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 ICC and not by a country. In Asia Cup, you had rules and you changed rules for one game. So where is ACC? Where is ICC?,”Arjuna Ranatunga was quoted as saying by PTI. “So I will not be surprised if for World Cup, they have a separate rule for Indo-Pak game. This is bad. India is powerful, no doubt, but then ICC officials are quite comfortable, happy putting coat and tie and hanky and going to meetings.”

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However, the reserve day during the India-Pakistan Asia Cup match used as only 24.1 overs could take place on the scheduled day of play. India went on to beat Pakistan by 228 runs on the reserve day. Notably, India will play against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2023 final in Colombo on Sunday, September 17.

“Why did they play in Colombo when you have places like Hambantota? That ground was built to play cricket during the rainy season.. 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 concluded.