Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar shared that the real reason behind the Colombo phase of the Asia Cup 2023 not shifting to Hambantota should be found out as well. While there were news about the possible shift from the Sri Lankan capital to a much drier Hambantota, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) decided to continue with the same scheduled venue as well.
Speaking on Sports Today, he said, “Well, somebody should find the real story. It appears from cricketing points, that it was probably the players who didn’t want to go to Hambantota. So administrators had to, at the last moment, change it from Hambantota to Colombo despite knowing Colombo could have pretty dicey weather. When I meant players, I didn’t mean players of one team but players of all teams that were supposed to be there.”
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However, rain played spoilsport in the mega India-Pakistan clash at Pallekele a week ago, with the teams sharing points as well. India also faced several rain interruptions in their next game against Nepal before winning by ten wickets in a reduced 23-over contest as well.
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“It is easy to point fingers at administrators and they can be easily made scapegoats. It is really important to find out why despite knowing that the weather forecast of Colombo won’t be good, matches were not held in Hambantota. Obviously, you want players to be in good mental space. The gym facilities, practice facilities need to be good but at times like these, we need to look at the larger picture and Hambantota had less chance of rain and Colombo has more chance of rain. And when I say experimentation, it is a chance to prepare for the World Cup. But by no means I am saying that the Asia Cup is less important. We also need to win the tournament,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.
