Asia Cup 2018: India's hotel details and the list of commentators
The Asia Cup 2018 is just around the corner and is all set to commence on 15th of September. Five Test playing nations namely India, Srilanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh along with Hong Kong will be a part of the much awaited Asia Cup.
The tournament will unfold in UAE (United Arab Emirates) at two stadiums - Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai and Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi with the final being played in Dubai. Two groups, Group A (India, Hong Kong, and Pakistan) and Group B (Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Srilanka), will divide the tournament. Top two from each group will form a Super Four group in which every team will play with every other. Eventually, the top two teams of Super Four will contest for finals in Dubai.
Indian Team enjoying privileges?
The Indian team is reported to reach UAE late that is after the start of the tournament. According to the reports, the Indian team will be staying in Grand Hyatt in Dubai while the other teams will be staying in InterContinental.
Interestingly, the Indian team was also supposed to stay along with five other teams. However, with India reaching late, the bookings in InterContinental were cancelled, and hence the booking at Grand Hyatt.
The whole lot of event caught BCCI enjoying the host privileges. However, a BCCI official, as per a report in Mirror, put all the claims down explaining that apart from players staffs and sponsors will also be travelling which have forced them to accommodate a bigger and exclusive abode.
Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar not to feature in Asia Cup?
On the other hand, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has put out a list of commentators for the tournament. Unfortunately, the commentary will not include the regular faces - Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar with the reasons being unknown.
Commentary list
However, Sunil Gavaskar, L Sivaramakrishnan, VVS Laxman, and Zaheer Khan (if VVS will not be available) will be the commentary faces in the tournament from India. In addition to that, Rameez Raja and Aamer Sohail will be the representatives from Pakistan. Besides, Kumar Sangakkara and Russel Arnold will be the faces of Srilanka with Athar Ali Khan representing Bangladesh's point of view. Apart from that, the tournament will also have neutral voices such as Kevin Pietersen, Dean Jones, and Brett Lee.
Full list of commentators: Sunil Gavaskar, L Sivaramakrishnan, VVS Laxman (Zaheer Khan if VVS can’t make it), Ramiz Raja, Aamir Sohail, Dean Jones, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold, Athar Ali Khan, Brett Lee, and Kevin Pietersen.