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In his recent interview, Sunil Gavaskar, one of the greatest cricketers of all time, talked about how the real story about the potential change to the Asia Cup 2023 venue should be revealed. The 74-year-old was discussing the weather forecast in Colombo, which isn’t expected to be good, but it didn't prompt the administrators to shift the tournament to Hambantota, a far drier venue in comparison to the Sri Lankan capital, at this time of the year.
During the Asia Cup 2023, we have already seen a fair few matches in the tournament at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy, facing constant interruption due to rain. With the India vs Pakistan fixture in the group stages of the tournament already being washed out, the administrators faced pressure from all comers, to ensure that the upcoming matches happen without rain playing spoilsport.
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Then, there were talks about shifting the Asia Cup 2023 venue from Colombo to Hambantota, but the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) decided to not change the tournament itinerary. This led to Sunil Gavaskar, in his interview with Sports Today, mentioning how the events leading up to the decision might have unfolded.
He was quoted as saying, as per the Indian Express, “Well, somebody should find the real story. It appears from cricketing points, that it was probably the players who didn’t want to go to Hambantota.” “So, administrators had to at last moment, change it from Hambantota to Colombo despite knowing Colombo could have pretty dicey weather,” he further added.
"When I meant players, I didn’t mean players of one team but players of all teams that were supposed to be there,” Sunil Gavaskar quoted.
The 74-year-old also stood up for the administrators, who face constant criticism from everyone, when these kinds of problems come to light. “It is easy to point fingers at administrators and they can be easily made scapegoats. It is really important to find out why despite knowing that weather forecast of Colombo won’t be good, matches were not held in Hambantota,” he remarked.
