New Delhi: Najam Sethi, the ex-chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), once again hit out at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for its decision to not relocate the India-Pakistan Super 4 match from Colombo to Hambantota, despite unfavorable weather conditions.
According to the Asia Cup Super venues confirmed on Wednesday, five out of the six matches are set to take place in Colombo. As per the weather forecast, there will be rain in Colombo till September 20.
Taking to social media platform X and Sethi wrote: "BCCI/ACC informed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today that they had decided to shift the next India-Pak match from Colombo to Hambantota because of rain forecasts. Within one hour they changed their mind and announced Colombo as the venue. What’s going on? Is India afraid to play and lose to Pakistan? Look at the rain forecast."
The highly-anticipated India-Pakistan clash at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium was abandoned due to persistent rain last Saturday.
Sethi also shared images illustrating the contrasting weather conditions in the two cities, pointing out that Colombo has an 89 per cent chance of rain on Sunday, while Hambantota has only a 12 per cent chance.
Earlier, Sethi accused the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and ACC monopoly on scheduling the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka rather than the UAE knowing the rainy season in the island nation. Sethi suggested that the BCCI and ACC schedule the tournament in the UAE after the BCCI decided not to send Indian team to Pakistan.
However, BCCI secretary Jay Shah rejected the claims of Sethi and expressed, 'player's health' as the primary reason for not scheduling the Asia Cup in the UAE.
