Asia Cup 2023 Fixed? Former Sri Lanka Cricketer Comes Up With Huge Allegations Against Jay Shah Led BCCI And ACC

The Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) decision to have a reserve day for the Super 4 clash between India and Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 raised a number of eyebrows. Usually the final and the semifinals of a big tournament such as the Asia Cup get reserve days.

The ACC, however, decided to have a reserve day for the India vs Pakistan clash. That was not the only decision that surprised many. The ACC’s decision to have a reserve day only for one of the 6 Super 4 games did not go down well with many either. Not only the fans but several former cricketers as well as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka head coaches expressed their surprise and disappointment over the preferential treatment.

And now former Sri Lanka cricketer Charith Senanayake has given his reaction to the decision. The former cricketer was the chairman of the technical committee for the 2022 Asia Cup held in Dubai and Sharjah. The tournament was to be played in Sri Lanka but had to be shifted to the UAE because of the Covid-19 situation.

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Charith Senanayake on reserve day for India-Pakistan match in Asia Cup:

Charith Senanayake has revealed he was utterly shocked after learning about the introduction of a reserve day for the India-Pakistan Super Four game in the Asia Cup. Charith, who plied his trade for Sri Lanka as a cricketer in 3 Tests and 7 ODIs, opined that the decision may come back to haunt Pakistan if their Super Four match against Sri Lanka on Thursday is washed out.

“Before the tournament, playing conditions are given and all the teams are made aware of them. Thereafter rules cannot be changed unless all the teams agree with it. Otherwise, it’s unfair,” Charith told The New Indian Express.

“Hypothetically, if the Pakistan-Sri Lanka game is washed out, both teams will get one point each. In that scenario, on the basis of the better run rate, Sri Lanka will go through and Pakistan will be out. That’s because you don’t have an additional day or a reserve day. That will be very unfortunate. So the decision which apparently PCB made could boomerang on it,” he added.

In case, the game between Sri Lanka and Pakistan is washed out, the former will advance to the Asia Cup final. The Men in Green also need to win the game to advance to the final. Speaking further, the ex-cricketer said that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has put a question mark on the authenticity of the tournament by requesting for the reserve day.

“If that is the case (PCB wanting a reserve day), then there is a big question mark about the authenticity of the tournament. It becomes very questionable. It appears games (draws) were fixed because everybody was trying for an India-Pakistan final. You cannot have different rules for different boards,” said Charith.

Charith was not done yet. He also expressed his surprise over the draw, saying he was amazed about how every tournament featuring India and Pakistan always has at least a clash between the two arch-rivals.

“People tend to ask questions about how it happens all the time. To begin with, I actually don’t know how the groups were drawn. Whether it was actually done or done physically. But it looks very funny. The ACC makes money only through this it seems. Everyone is trying to make money,” said Charith.

“Money talks at the end of the day. Because of such an act, the whole tournament becomes questionable. It also raises questions as to how clean this Asia Cup is. Six countries in two groups and India-Pakistan in one group.

It is fixed in such a way that both teams play at least twice and if they reach the final, three times. All boards played it down because if they objected, India would refrain from visiting their countries and the boards cannot be run because India wields such power,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Asia Cup final is scheduled to take place on Sunday (September 17). India have booked their place in the final by winning their first two Super 4 games and they will face either Sri Lanka or Pakistan in the title decider.