Sehwag wants India to withdraw from Asia Cup
Sehwag vents his frustration
Former India opener Virender Sehwag has blasted the congested fixture list of the Asia Cup 2018 and has suggested India pull out from the tournament. The Men in Blue are set to face Pakistan on September 19 – just one day after playing their first game of the tournament against a yet to be decided qualifier.
This has irked the legendary former India star who has expressed his shock at India not being given even a single day’s break when the tournament is going to be played under the hot conditions of Dubai.
"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.
He then added that India would be better off preparing for home and away series than playing the Asia Cup.
"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," Sehwag told IndiaTV.
Sehwag went as far as saying that the BCCI should have cancelled the game against the qualifier instead of shortening four-day practice match against Essex to three days. He also opined that a player needs a minimum of “24-48” hours to recover.
"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," he added.
Continuing his rant, he believes that India playing back-to-back games in the space of 24 hours would give Pakistan the edge of their eternal rivals for their clash against the Men in Blue.
"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.
