Virender Sehwag Suggests To Not Play Asia Cup Due To Poor Scheduling

Former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag has lashed out at the makers of the schedule for the Asia Cup 2018 as Team India is forced to play matches on consecutive days.

Cricket news: According to the fixture, India will have to play consecutive matches on September 18 and 19

The tournament is said to commence on September 15 with the inaugural match to be played between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

India’s first match is scheduled on September 18 where they will play against the qualifying team and will have to play against Pakistan on the very next day. This is the reason why Sehwag has vented his anger.

The schedule for the Asia Cup has been hastily made with Team India schedule to finish their ongoing tour of England on September 11.

Some of the players who will be playing the Tests will also be a part of the Asia Cup, which means that they will have less time to recover from the gruelling England tour.

Moreover the back-to-back games will take a toll on the players especially because of the searing heat in the United Arab Emirates which will make the things worse.

Virender Sehwag shared his extreme disappointment about the consecutive matches while speaking to India TV.

“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,” he said.

Sehwag also said that Pakistan will also have an advantage over India as they will be much fresher, having got a couple of days rest, when they take on the field.

“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.

The 39-year-old former player also angrily said that India should consider not playing the Asia Cup due to the scheduling of the tournament.

“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,” he concluded.