Asia Cup 2018 Schedule Annoys Virender Sehwag; Says ’Do Not Play the Tournament’

The Asia Cup 2018 will be played in the United Arab Emirates from September 15-28. Featuring six teams, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan already confirmed and the sixth team will be picked from a qualifying tournament.  However, the hectic schedule has not gone down well with the Sultan of Multan Virender Sehwag and has annoyed him so much that he has asked the Indian team to not play the tournament.

According to him, a player requires at least 24-48 hours for recovering post playing an ODI match. Sehwag who is a cricket expert on India TV 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," Sehwag said.

According to him, if it is difficult to reschedule the matches than India should not play the tournament itself. “Why there's such hue and cry overplaying 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," Sehwag told India TV.

Six teams are divided into two Groups A and B. Each Group will have three teams. Group A will have the qualifying team, India and Pakistan. Whereas Group B, on the other hand, features Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. India will play the first match on September 18 and will contest against Pakistan on the following day. According to Sehwag, this will give Pakistan an added advantage.

"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 said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2018 04:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).