Sethi questions India’s fear of losing to Pakistan in Asia Cup

• ACC keeps India-Pakistan Super-4 match in Colombo despite bad weather.
• Ex-PCB chair Najam Sethi blames BCCI for avoiding Pakistan matches.
• Sethi suggests hosting Asia Cup 2023 in UAE instead of Sri Lanka.

Najam Sethi, the former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has once again criticized the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for their decision not to move the India-Pakistan Super-4 match from Colombo to Hambantota, despite unfavorable weather conditions.

The Asian Cricket Council confirmed the venues for the Asia Cup Super matches, with five out of six matches scheduled to be held in Colombo. Weather forecasts predict rain in Colombo until September 20.

Najam Sethi expressed his frustration on social media, specifically on platform X. He stated, “The BCCI/ACC informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today that they were relocating the next India-Pakistan match from Colombo to Hambantota due to rain forecasts. However, within just one hour, they reversed their decision and announced Colombo as the venue. What’s going on? Is India avoiding playing against Pakistan? Take a look at the rain forecast.”

Recently, the highly anticipated India-Pakistan clash at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium was canceled due to continuous rain on Saturday.

Sethi also shared images highlighting the differing weather conditions in the two cities, emphasizing that Colombo has an 89% chance of rain on Sunday, while Hambantota has only a 12% chance.

Previously, the former PCB chief had accused the BCCI and ACC of monopolizing the scheduling of the Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka instead of the UAE, despite knowing the rainy season in Sri Lanka. Sethi suggested that the BCCI and ACC should have scheduled the tournament in the UAE after the BCCI decided not to travel to Pakistan for the tournament.

However, Jay Shah, a representative of the BCCI, rejected Sethi’s claims and cited the “player’s health” as the main reason for not scheduling the Asia Cup in the UAE.

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