Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes the Asian Games are not ready to host cricket after a string of washouts in the men’s tournament. The India vs Afghanistan clash on Monday was washed out before a ball was bowled. Eventually, India qualified for the semifinal clash because of a better ranking.
Similarly, the other three quarter-finals were also washed out, and thus Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh all qualified for the last four because of better seeding.
India will take on Sri Lanka in the semifinal clash on Thursday.
“Asian Games, I personally feel, is not ready. Asian Games is not at all ready for cricket. Especially when the matches are held in China, Japan, or other non-cricketing nations. It is not good at all. We saw that one match in Sano, which was just a 5-over-per-side game. I mean, it was not right. The pitch was not prepared well enough for international cricket. Now the matches in Nisshin, where there is a better hybrid pitch and all of that, even if there is a little bit of rain, they can’t dry it, and the match does not happen. There is no provision for drying at all. There are no super soppers or covers in place,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“If this is how it is going to be, then let’s be very honest. What is the point yaar? We are closer to a medal, why? Because our ranking is better. If the next match is also washed out, we will qualify for the final because our ranking is better. If the final is washed out, our ranking is better, so we will get the gold. What is this? It cannot be like this. It is a very poor way of conducting the Asian Games,” he added.
Recently, India played a five-over game against Japan at the Sano International Cricket Stadium after rain played killjoy in the historic match. Eventually, Shreyas Iyer’s team registered a two-run win against the hosts.
