Four nation Asia Cup cricket tournament
After watching a dramatic ICC’s T20 World Cup, Asian teams are gathering in SriLanka to fight it out against each other to decide who the best cricket team in Asia is. The Asian Cricket Council has given Sri Lanka the rights to host the next four-nation Asian Cricket tournament. The tournament will start from June 15 and will continue till the 25th of the same month. A majority of the matches will be played in the central town of Dambulla, SriLanka. Hosts’ SriLanka will be competing against India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the 15-day event. All games are scheduled to be 50-over-day-and-night encounters.
The total prize money for the tournament is set at a whopping $200,000 for the winning team. This tournament was first held in 1984 in Sharjah. The Asian Cricket Chief executive Syed Ashraful Haq also explained to reporters in Colombo that this year’s tournament will have the highest winning amount for the participating teams.
However, the Asia Cup is organised for two different purposes. One is to provide the developing cricket nations in Asia with a chance to compete against the very best. On the other hand, the tournament helps in raising funds for the development of cricket in Asian countries. The funds that rise from this tournament will be utilised to support and develop the game in Asian region. The Asian Cricket Chief executive Syed Ashraful Haq further added, “We are already seeing good progress in Afghanistan and Nepal”
Sri Lanka is already in a strong position to win the cup. In the last edition of the Asia Cup, SriLanka won the final after beating India by a 100 runs in Karachi in 2008. In the last 8 occasions, India and Sri Lanka have been volleying the trophy between each other. Both teams have won the trophy on four occasions each. On the other hand, Pakistan has historically lost a number of matches in the Asia Cup except for the last cup which it won in 2000.
The scheduled matches for this year are as under:
June 15: Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan.
16: India vs. Bangladesh
17: Reserve day
18: Sri Lanka vs. Bangladesh
19: Pakistan vs. India
20: Reserve Day
21: Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka
22: India vs. Sri Lanka
23: Reserve Day
24: Final
25: Reserve day
Sri Lanka and Pakistan will open the tournament. It is important that Pakistan should think about its weaknesses that may hinder their success in this tournament. Pakistan will play England and Australia in their upcoming tour of England. The world is expecting more from Shahid Afridi’s men, especially the spectators from Pakistan.
Pakistan has been unfortunate on many instances. The Sri Lankan team bus was attacked by terrorists in Lahore last year. That incident forced the International Cricket Council to suspend international cricket from Pakistan. This snatched Pakistan’s chances to play in front of their own cheering spectators on their home grounds.
On the other hand former captain Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf were banned for an indefinite time period following the disastrous tour of Australia. Shoaib Malik faces a one year ban along with a fine of $24,000. Shahid Afridi is the present captain of Pakistan in the T20 format of cricket. He’s ably supported by the Akmal brothers in the middle order as well. However, all three players have been heavily fined for their misdemeanours due to their off-field controversies in Australia. Afridi was caught by the cameras during a T20 match in Australia for munching on the cricket ball. With all these incidents in perspective and with the withdrawal of Umer Gul owing to a shoulder injury, the outcome in the Asia Cup can be dismal to say the least for Pakistan.
After Pakistan’s inability to play in home conditions, will it be possible for the cornered tigers to continuously play cricket in foreign conditions? Secondly, would this play a negative affect on the teams’ performance in the Asia Cup or not? Only a positive result for Pakistan can prove the critics wrong at this juncture.
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