The former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has once again hit out at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for their decision to not shift the upcoming India-Pakistan Super-4 game from Colombo to Hambantota, despite unfavorable weather conditions in the capital city of Sri Lanka.
According to the Asia Cup Super 4 venues confirmed on Wednesday, five out of the six games will be held in Colombo and going by the weather forecast, there will be heavy rain in the country’s capital till September 20.
Taking to social media platform X, Sethi wrote: “BCCI/ACC informed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today that they had decided to shift the next India-Pak match from Colombo to Hambantota because of rain forecasts. Within one hour they changed their mind and announced Colombo as the venue. What’s going on? Is India afraid to play and lose to Pakistan? Look at the rain forecast.”
Recently, the highly-anticipated India-Pakistan game at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium was abandoned due to persistent rain on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the former PCB chief also shared images illustrating the contrasting weather conditions in the two cities, pointing out that Colombo has an 89 percent chance of showers on Sunday, while Hambantota has only a 12 percent chance.
Earlier, Sethi had accused the BCCI and ACC’s monopoly over scheduling the continental tournament in Sri Lanka rather than the UAE knowing the rainy season in the island nation.
He had suggested that BCCI and ACC should schedule the tournament in UAE after the Indian board decided not to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup.
However, Jay Shah had rejected the claims of Sethi and expressed, ‘Player’s health’ as the primary reason for not scheduling the Asia Cup in the massive heat of the UAE.