India dished out an all-round performance to completely outplay Pakistan in the Asia Cup Super 4 contest on Monday. More than on-field action, a lot of attention during the multi-nation tournament is being diverted towards off-field matters.
The weather forecast, venue selection, ticket pricing and more weather forecast. There has been a lot of chatter around these issues and it’s getting louder with every drop of rain which falls from the sky in Sri Lanka.
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The venue
Right after the hybrid model was accepted by the members of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), headed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, deliberations were underway regarding the venue to co-host the tournament with Pakistan. UAE was discussed as an option but it is reliably learnt that the Indian team management was not keen to play ODIs there right ahead of the World Cup.
“Team India’s management wasn’t keen to play in the UAE because of the heat. Playing a T20 there is different but a 50-over-a-side contest, right before the World Cup, didn’t look like an ideal option to the team management. The concern was heard,” says a source tracking developments.
India weren’t the only ACC member which had “concerns” about playing in the UAE. ACC chief Shah, in a statement last week, made it clear that other members too didn’t want to risk injuries right before the World Cup.
“ACC members received feedback from their respective high-performance teams, expressing concerns about playing One-day matches in the UAE in the month of September. Such a schedule could have potentially led to player fatigue and an increased risk of injuries, particularly right before the all-important ICC Cricket World Cup,” Shah had said in a statement.
Why not Hambantota?
Right after the group stage, there were talks of moving the tournament out of Colombo due to the flood-like situation in the region and the not-so-encouraging forecast for the business leg of the tournament. Hambantota was doing rounds as a potential choice but the venue wasn’t recommended by the ACC at all.
“Hambantota was never discussed. The ACC never recommended Hambantota’s name. Yes, there were concerns around hosting the games in Colombo but Hambantota wasn’t being explored as an option. Colombo remained the best bet considering all the logistics and other requirements,” adds the source.
Reserve day, but why only for India vs Pakistan?
India vs Pakistan Super 4 contest was played across two days because rain didn’t allow the game to be completed on the original day – September 10. Reserve day meant the game resumed from where it had stopped on Monday and all the stakeholders – fans, broadcasters, sponsors, advertisers – took a sigh of relief.
Again, the reserve day, only for India vs Pakistan, attracted a lot of criticism but the Asia Cup without India vs Pakistan is not an ideal scenario for the health of the tournament. With all due respect to other participating nations, the marquee clash is what keeps the multi-nation tournament alive and makes it a hot property to invest in. From a broadcaster’s point of view, it’s India-Pakistan or nothing.
“A broadcaster pays out nearly 40 million USD for the Asia Cup. Out of those 40, 38 million USD is for India vs Pakistan alone. That is one game we are talking about and then there is Super 4 and the final which comes along as a bonus or incentive. So for the commercial and financial health of the tournament, India vs Pakistan is utmost priority,” say industry sources tracking developments.
Asia Cup without India vs Pakistan is not an enticing property and for the tournament to survive amid the traffic jam of T20 leagues around the world in a packed calendar, it remains the utmost priority. With a reserve day or without a reserve day, there is no bigger property in world cricket than India vs Pakistan.
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