"Is India afraid to play and lose to Pakistan?" - Ex-PCB chief Najam Sethi slams BCCI & ACC for not changing Asia Cup 2023 venue from Colombo
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi once again took a jibe at BCCI Secretary and ACC President Jay Shah for not shifting the Asia Cup 2023 games of the Super Four stage from Colombo.
There are thunderstorms predicted in Colombo for the next few days and Sethi was baffled to know that the discussions to move the games to Hambantota had been stalled.
He claimed that the ACC had informed the PCB of the change in venue but couldn't understand why the decision was reversed. Najam Sethi took a sly dig by asking whether India feared playing Pakistan and thus wanted the game to be called off due to rain.
Here's what he posted on X:
"BCCI/ACC informed PCB today that they had decided to shift 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!"
Najam Sethi had also posted after India-Pakistan washout
The India vs Pakistan game in Group A of the Asia Cup 2023 could have gone down to the wire, but the second innings wasn't possible due to rain. Najam Sethi took to X and claimed that he had requested the ACC to play a part of the competition in the UAE as per the 'hybrid model'.
However, he was disappointed with the reasons given by the ACC to not have the games in the UAE. On this, Sethi posted:
"How disappointing! Rain mars the greatest contest in cricket. But this was forecast. As PCB Chair, I urged the ACC to play in UAE but poor excuses were made to accommodate Sri Lanka. Too hot in Dubai, they said.
"But it was as hot when the Asia Cup was played there last time in Sep 2022 or when IPL was played there in April 2014 and Sep 2020. Politics over sport. Unforgivable!"
Only time will tell if the weather will hold up and if the Super Four games in Colombo yield a result.