India’s participation in the upcoming Asian Games cricket tournament faces uncertainty as the BCCI considers sending a ‘B’ team due to significant concerns over inadequate facilities and arrangements in Japan.
IMAGE: The Indian men’s cricket team clinched the gold medal on its Asian Games debut in 2024. Photograph: BCCI/X
Key Points
- India may send a ‘B’ team to the Asian Games cricket tournament due to BCCI and ACC dissatisfaction with facilities in Japan.
- Concerns include inadequate dressing rooms, distant washrooms, and small hotel rooms for cricketers.
- A BCCI observer will assess the arrangements, and a decision on the squad will follow their report.
- The men’s cricket tournament is scheduled from September 24 to October 3 in Aichi-Nagoya.
- India previously won a gold medal in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games cricket event.
Team India could be sending a ‘B’ team for the upcoming Asian Games cricket tournament due to dissatisfaction of the BCCI and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) with the arrangements and facilities in Japan, as per a BCCI source.
The Asian Games will start from September 19 onwards in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The men’s cricket tournament is scheduled from September 24 to October 3, while the women’s tournament is scheduled from September 17 to 22.
Concerns Over Facilities in Japan
A source from BCCI told ANI that the board and ACC are not satisfied with the facilities and arrangements for cricketers in Japan, and an observer from BCCI could be sent there. If the facilities are not found to be up to the mark, BCCI could consider sending a ‘B’ team to the competition.
The source told ANI, “BCCI and ACC are not happy with the facilities and arrangements in Japan, and the board will send an observer there. The observer will submit its report to us, and if arrangements are not up to the mark, we could consider sending a B team there. We told Japan Olympics officials during the ACC in a meeting that the dressing rooms were set up in tents and washrooms were just 500 m away from those tents, which has created an unsatisfying situation for the players. Also, the hotel rooms are really small, and it is a big concern.”
India’s Previous Performance and Squads
Team India secured a gold medal in the previous edition at Hangzhou, China, back in 2023, adjudged winners on the basis of a higher seeding over Afghanistan after the final was washed out. They have named a full-strength line-up for the competition, including skipper Shreyas Iyer, the left-handed batting quartet of Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma and star pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh.
India men’s T20I squad for Asian Games
Shreyas Iyer (capt), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vice-capt), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Jasprit Bumrah.
The Indian women’s squad is led by Harmanpreet Kaur and features several big names who are regulars at the senior level.
Indian women’s T20I squad for Asian Games
Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), G. Kamalini (WK), Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Nandni Sharma.
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