Asia Cup 2023: "Had They Consulted..." - Bangladesh And Sri Lanka Express Their Disappointment Over Having Reserve Day Only For IND vs PAK

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka head coaches – Hathurasingha and Chris Silverwood – expressed their disappointment over having reserve day only for the India vs Pakistan game in the Super Four stage of Asia Cup 2023. They said that it’s not ideal and they would’ve also liked to have an extra day as well.

Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced the reserve day for the upcoming India vs Pakistan game in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2023. This came after continuous rain in Sri Lanka has posed a threat over upcoming games. The game between two arch-rivals is slated to take place on September (10th) in Colombo.

With India vs Pakistan being a big-ticket game, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has made sure that there’s a reverse day for the biggest clash. If rain suspends play on 10th September then the match will continue on September 11th from the point it was suspended.

However, this raised a lot of controversy as many slammed the Asian Cricket Council for their decision to have a reserve day for the India vs Pakistan game. They believe that a multi-nation tournament deserves a reserve day for each of the Super 4 games not just India vs Pakistan.

Sri Lanka head coach Hathurasingha said that had they consulted them earlier they would’ve shared their opinion as well. He added that his comments won’t matter now. Speaking during the pre-match press conference, he explained:

“I have not seen anything like this earlier. This is something new. It’s not ideal. We would love to have an extra day as well. Other than that I don’t have much to comment on because they (technical committee) have made a decision.

“There is a technical committee (in Asia Cup) represented by every participating country 6 nations. They might have decided it for some other reason. It is not ideal, and we also would have liked to have an extra day.

“But I don’t have any more comment on this because they have already made a decision and had they consulted us earlier we would have given our opinion.”

Asia Cup 2023: I was a little surprised when I heard it first – Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood on reserve day only for India vs Pakistan

Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood also expresses his disappointment, saying that he was surprised when he first heard about ACC’s decision. He explained:

“Yeah! Look, obviously, I was a little surprised when I heard it first. But we don’t organise the competition, so we can’t do a whole lot about it, right? To be honest, I see it only becoming a problem if it provides points to the teams, and affects us.”

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will play in the Super Four encounter on Saturday (9th September) in Colombo.