The much-awaited Asia Cup is scheduled to be commencing on September 15 as most of the six teams are about to reach the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Team India will be the last team to arrive as most of the players are still in England participating in the ongoing Test series against the hosts. However, there are a few logistical changes as Team India’s base has been shifted to Dubai when the other five teams will stay in the different hotel.
India’s Asia Cup campaign will be commencing late as compared to the remaining teams. They will play their first game on September 18 against Hong Kong and will face their arch-rivals on the very next day. Both the matches will be played at Dubai International Stadium while the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi is the other venue which will host the tournament.
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According to the reports in Mumbai Mirror, the Indian players will enjoy all the exclusive rights during the Asia Cup it seems as earlier they were the hosts of the tournament. Earlier, the tournament was scheduled to take place in India hosts but with Pakistan refusing to play, the Asia Cricket Council (ACC) had to shift the competition to the UAE. Previously, all the teams were booked at the InterContinental but now those have been canceled for the Indian team.
The Indian team will stay in Grand Hyatt in Dubai and all their matches will also take place at the same venue. While their league matches are in the same city due to the fact they will be playing back-to-back matches. But even for the Super Four stage, they will be staying in Dubai itself and the same has been agreed upon. In short, India will be not at all traveling to Abu Dhabi during the Asia Cup and even if they reach the final of the tournament, to their fortune, it is anyways scheduled to be played in Dubai.
However, the BCCI officials have played down the talk of the exclusivity but it is being argued that their surroundings which will also include the staff and sponsors needed an exclusive accommodation being the hosts.
