Former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya is hopeful that the Asia Cup T20 tournament will take place in the country as per the schedule despite the grave financial crisis. However, the tournament is set to be taken place from August 27 to September 11. However, some question marks have been raised if the mega event can be taken place in the wake of massive public protests in the country. Meanwhile, amid all the issues, Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka recently concluded with ease as well.
And, a confident Jayasuriya told PTI in an interview: “I am very confident that Asia Cup will happen and there is no threat to the tournament. In Sri Lanka, everyone loves cricket and the cricketers from every nation. The Sri Lankan public has absolutely nothing against any cricketer. There will be all necessary support to hold the tournament peacefully.”
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According to some reports, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) will take a call later this month on whether it is possible to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka amid this situation. A source was quoted as telling Sportstar: “The ACC is monitoring the situation and will make a decision in its meeting later this month, keeping all factors in mind.”
The Asia Cup was originally scheduled to be played in 2020, but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and one qualifier (yet to be decided) will be featured in this year’s Asia Cup tournament. The event was last held in 2018, where India beat Bangladesh by three wickets in the final in Dubai as well.
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Reacting to the financial crisis and the unrest situation in Sri Lanka, Sanath Jayasuriya slammed politicians and lamented that the situation in Sri Lanka is a complete mess. He told PTI: “It is a very, very sad situation as to what Sri Lankan public has to go through. My country is suffering and I am deeply pained to see people standing in long queues to buy essential food items. There is no electricity, no fuel and above all basic medicines are unavailable. It couldn’t have gotten worse for the common man. If you ask me about the public, who are currently inside the President’s house, I don’t see anything wrong as they have been peaceful in their protests. They have been repeatedly told to not vandalise public property.”
