Asia Cup 2018: Asian Cricket Council Releases Fresh Dates for Super Four Games

In a move to please India and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) changed the original schedule for the tournament for the Super four round. It must be noted that India is the hosts of the competition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The ACC has released a revised schedule for the Super Four. And even before the completion of the group games, ACC released the schedule.

Regardless of the other three team’s position in the tournament, India will play the remainder of their matches in Dubai. Not only India has been given an A1 status before their final group game against Pakistan, but the ACC has also assumed that Afghanistan and Bangladesh will finish A1 and A2 respectively.

However, Afghanistan and Bangladesh haven’t played until now, and the actual position is yet to be decided.

As per the Super four schedule, India and Pakistan will lock horns against Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The initial plan was A1 vs B2 and A2 vs B1 which was slated to be played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively.

Pakistan will fly to Abu Dhabi on Thursday to play against Afghanistan the very next day. If they manage to qualify for the final, they will need to fly back to Dubai.

Not only has India been given an A1 status before their decider match against Pakistan, but the ACC has also assumed that Afghanistan and Bangladesh will be B1 and B2, respectively.

However, the latter two are yet to play each other in their group match after both won against Sri Lanka.

According to the Super Four schedule, India and Pakistan will play Bangladesh and Afghanistan, respectively, on Friday to kick off the super4 stage. Initially, however, it was A1 vs B2 and A2 vs B1 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, respectively.

This means Bangladesh, who play Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, would be travelling to Dubai to face off India on Friday.

Pakistan, on the other hand, would fly to Abu Dhabi on Thursday to play Afghanistan on the next day. They will return to Dubai on Saturday to play India the next day and travel back to Abu Dhabi to play Bangladesh on Wednesday.

If they qualify for final, they would have to fly back to Dubai on Thursday to participate in the final on Friday.

The schedule of the official tournament fixture had a note.  It stated that irrespective of whether India wins against Pakistan or not, they will play in a Qualifier 1.

Even if that can be considered, how can the position in Group B get decided before Afghanistan lock horns against Bangladesh?

Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed has also slammed the scheduling of the tournament. He said that travelling in these conditions is taxing on the body.

“Travelling is an issue, so if you travel for [90 minutes] during the matches, then it’s tough,” Sarfraz said ahead of the game against their arch-rivals India.

In this weather, it’s tough, and then after one day, you play another game. I think it should be even for all the teams whether it is India or Pakistan.

“If there are matches in Abu Dhabi, then every team has to play there. I don’t know what the Asian Cricket Council has done about it,” he said.

Scheduled for the Super four for the 14th edition of the Asia Cup 2018:

September 21: India vs Bangladesh in Dubai; Pakistan vs Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.
September 23: India vs Pakistan in Dubai; Afghanistan vs Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi.
On September 25: India vs Afghanistan in Dubai.
September 26: Pakistan vs Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi.
September 28: Final in Dubai

(All matches start at 5:00 PM IST)