Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) decision to have a reserve day for the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match between India and Pakistan hasn’t gone down well with former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, who feels favouring one team will put cricket in peril.
While there was rain forecast in Colombo throughout the Super 4s, the reserve day was added only for the marquee India versus Pakistan clash.
"You take the Asia Cup. You have rules before the tournament, but before that one game (India v Pakistan), they changed the rules. Where is ACC? Where is ICC?," Ranatunga asked during a media interaction on Friday (September 15).
"I am not very comfortable when you have a tournament, where you change rules for one team. You are looking at a disaster in the future," he added.
"I feel very sad for ICC and ACC because they just want to hold the positions. Former cricketers too don't open, simply because they need the bucks," he continued.
Taking a dig at ICC, Ranatunga further said that he won’t be surprised if India's World Cup game against Pakistan in Ahmedabad gets a reserve day.
"I won't be surprised if they change the rule before the India-Pakistan game (in World Cup). ICC will keep their mouth shut and say 'OK, do it'. ICC just talks rubbish, nothing happens," he stated.
Ranatunga found it baffling that the ACC didn’t explore venues outside Colombo despite knowing that the weather forecast in Sri Lanka’s capital wasn’t good for the Super 4 and final matches.
"Why did they play in Colombo when you have places like Hambantota? That ground was built to play cricket during the rainy season. And you come to Colombo to play in the Asia Cup. What is ACC doing?" he questioned.
Ranatunga also cited that world cricket should not be governed by one board or individual.
“Why do the other countries allow that (poor scheduling) to happen? Because the BCCI is powerful, or one particular person is powerful. No, it can't happen like that. They should have given an extra day for all the games if that was the case,” he remarked.
(With PTI Inputs)
