The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) made a surprising decision on Friday to include a reserve day in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. However, the reserve day was allocated only for the IND vs PAK Super 4 match scheduled at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Subsequently, the cricket boards of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh issued a statement from their official social media accounts, clarifying that the decision to allocate a reserve day for the India-Pakistan match was reached through consultation with both boards. This led to criticism from fans, who questioned why there was pressure to accommodate this seemingly unreasonable demand.
“A reserve day for India Pakistan contest in Super 11 Asia Cup Super 4 stage has been added that effectively revised the Asia Cup playing condition. To clarify on the position, the decision was taken with the consent of all four participating teams and ACC,” Bangladesh Cricket Board ( BCB) tweeted at 10:58 p.m. on Friday.
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At 11:31 p.m., the Sri Lankan cricket board (SLC) also released a statement on ‘X ‘ in which they wrote, “The reserve day for the India-Pakistan contest of the Super 11 Asia Cup Super 4 stage was taken in consultation with all four member boards of the Super 4 competing teams. Accordingly, the ACC effectively revised the playing conditions of the tournament to effect the agreed-upon change. #AsiaCup2023.”
Fans suspected that the tweets and the inclusion of a reserve day for the IND vs PAK Super 4 match were influenced by the BCCI’s influence on ACC, BCB, and SLC. They began mocking these decisions on social media. Check out some fan reactions below.
Last week’s IND vs PAK group stage match in Pallekele was spoiled by rain, resulting in a no-result with no play in the second innings. There were discussions about relocating the remaining Asia Cup 2023 matches to Hambantota, but this idea was later discarded.
Consequently, ACC decided to maintain the original schedule. Initially, none of the Super 4 matches had a reserve day, but ACC surprised many, including the coaches of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, by introducing a reserve day for the highly anticipated IND vs PAK clash on Monday.
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