“It takes one corrupt, arrogant guy” – Venkatesh Prasad’s indirect dig at ACC & BCCI after reserve day only for India vs Pakistan in 2023 Asia Cup
Former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad took a dig at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) amid the ongoing 2023 Asia Cup on Saturday (September 9).
The former player labeled the entire leadership group as corrupt and arrogant. That's because the reserve day was only offered for the Indo-Pak Super-4 clash (due to poor weather forecast) and not for the Sri Lanka and Bangladesh games in the 50-over tournament.
For the uninitiated, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah is also the president of the ACC. Prasad wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter):
“It takes one corrupt, arrogant guy to take away the hardwork of an organisation that is generally non-corrupt and get a stamp of corruption on the whole leadership, not just on a micro level but at a large level.”
Earlier on Friday, Prasad asked the Sri Lanka and Bangladesh cricket boards on why they agreed to India-Pakistan’s reserve day. He quoted Bangladesh Cricket:
“What was the pressure to agree to this unreasonable demand?”
Prasad also responded to the Sri Lanka Cricket Board:
“What was the pressure to agree on this unreasonable demand, when you aren’t getting a reserve day for your own matches? Why so much generosity to ensure India vs Pakistan isn’t washed out even if it costs your own team a chance to qualify? Can you please explain truly the intent and reason to do so?”
“It’s time we wake up” – Venkatesh Prasad unhappy with BCCI for no transparency in World Cup ticketing sale
Venkatesh Prasad has also been disappointed with the BCCI’s 2023 World Cup ticketing.
The former pacer recently lashed out at ticketing partner BookMyShow for offering limited tickets to fans who're unable to book tickets due to long queues. He called the ticket partners incompetent to handle tickets and traffic.
Prasad wrote on X:
“It is a proud moment to be hosting a World Cup, and it should have been a great time for the fans, but these difficulties for the fans doesn’t look unplanned. It’s time we wake up and not make this incompetence a norm just because “Yes Men” around don’t want to speak up. It is a matter of national prestige.”
He continued:
“The BCCI needs to do far better than they have done so far.”
The BCCI recently released 400,000 tickets after being at the receiving end from fans for offering only a limited number of seats during the pre-sale.
Click here to check out the full schedule of the 2023 ODI World Cup.