As the schedule of 2018 Asia Cup announced, the former Indian opener batsman Virender Sehwag lashed out on the tight schedule and suggested team India to not play in the Asia Cup.
Virender Sehwag said,”I am really shocked to see the scheduling because which country plays back-to-back cricket matches these days? There was a gap of two days in between the T20 matches in England and here you are playing ODIs under hot Dubai weather and that too without a break. So, I don’t think this is a correct scheduling. Why there’s such hue and cry over playing the Asia Cup? Don’t play the Asia Cup. Prepare the team for the home series or the away series. It’s really difficult to play back-to-back games.”
“There shouldn’t be any back-to-back games. If the BCCI had to cancel anything then it should have been the qualifier game in the Asia Cup rather than reducing the four-day practice match against Essex to three days. A player needs at least 48 hours to recover after playing an ODI match because you field for 3.5 hours and after that if you bat for 2 hours then it makes your total time spend on the ground to 5.5 hours. So, it takes a minimum of 24 to 48 hours for a player to recover.”
“When Team India will play the Asia Cup in Dubai in September, there will be too much heat and it will hamper the players’ recovery process. Pakistan will be in a good shape whereas the Indian players will be tired. And if we end up losing the match, then there might be a problem as we all are very passionate whenever we play against Pakistan. We always want India to win against Pakistan but if the Indian players are tired then Pakistan will definitely have the advantage,” he added.
Asia Cup 2018 schedule:
Group Stage
September 15 – Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (Dubai)
September 16 – Pakistan vs Qualifier (Dubai)
September 17 – Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
September 18 – India vs Qualifier (Dubai)
September 19 – India vs Pakistan (Dubai)
September 20 – Bangladesh vs Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Super Four
September 21 – Group A Winner vs Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
September 21 – Group B Winner vs Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
September 23 – Group A Winner vs Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
September 23 – Group B Winner vs Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
September 25 – Group A Winner vs Group B Winner (Dubai)
September 26 – Group A Runner-up vs Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Final
September 28 – Asia Cup 2018 Final (Dubai)