Virender Sehwag Slams Cramped Scheduling of Asia Cup 2018

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday announced the schedule of the Asia Cup 2018, which begins in September in the UAE.

For India to play cricket for consecutive days, it could be hectic. Thus Virender Sehwag, one of India’s greatest batsman says the scheduling didn’t please him a bit. Meanwhile, the arch-rivals, India and Pakistan would face-off on September 19th in Dubai, to which the Sehwag looks excited.

However, when these two teams last met, it was the Men in Green who thrashed India in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Oval. Since then, they haven’t met each other.

So, where does the problem lie? The issue is ICC has scheduled India’s matches without giving them any breaks in Asia Cup 2018. Virat Kohli-led side will play a game against the Qualifiers on 18^th September, and the next day, they face Pakistan. And Virender Sehwag criticised the move and made his point known among the fans.

Sehwag shocked with the Asia Cup schedule

“I am really shocked to see the scheduling. Which country plays back-to-back cricket matches these days? There was a gap of two days in between the T20 matches in England. Here you are playing ODIs under hot Dubai weather and that too without a break. So, I don’t think this is a correct scheduling,” Sehwag was quoted as saying by India TV.

“There shouldn’t be any back-to-back games. If the BCCI had to cancel anything, then it should have been the qualifier game in the Asia Cup rather than reducing the four-day practice match against Essex to three days. A player needs at least 48 hours to recover after playing an ODI match because of you field for 3.5 hours and after that, if you bat for 2 hours, then it makes your total time spent on the ground to 5.5 hours. So, it takes a minimum of 24 to 48 hours for a player to recover,” he maintained.

The heat in Dubai will affect the players

Sehwag said the weather in Dubai during September will hamper the recovery process of the players. He feels for such a big match both teams must be equally prepared. However, Sehwag believes Pakistan will be in a better frame of mind than India for the game in Asia Cup 2018.

“When Team India will play the Asia Cup in Dubai in September, there will be too much heat and it will hamper the players’ recovery process. Pakistan will be in good shape whereas the Indian players will be tired. And if we end up losing the match, then there might be a problem as we all are very passionate whenever we play against Pakistan. We always want India to win against Pakistan but if the Indian players are tired, then Pakistan will definitely have the advantage.”