Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Najam Sethi showed his disappointment after the match between Pakistan and India in the Asia Cup 2023 was called off due to rain at the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Sethi claimed during his time as the chairman, he insisted that the matches should be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) played their delaying tactics.
"It is disappointing that the biggest match in cricket was called off due to rain," Sethi said. "Everyone knows during this time, there is always a chance of rain in Sri Lanka.
"As the chairman of PCB, I told ACC that the matches should be played in UAE, but they made excuses to give the event to Sri Lanka.
"We were told that the weather will be hot in UAE. The weather in UAE would have been similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL) or the previous Asia Cup.
"It is unacceptable to prioritise politics over sports," he concluded.
It must be noted that Sethi was removed as the chairman PCB when the government formed a new PCB Management Committee led by Zaka Ashraf in July 2023.
Earlier today, Pakistan didn't get a chance to bat as persistent rain thwarted their chances of chasing down India's target of 267 runs.
The washout also means that Pakistan have qualified for the Super 4 stage of the tournament.
Batting first, The Blues were dismissed for 266 runs as Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya scored fifties and brought their side back in the game after India had slipped to 66-4 inside 15 overs.
Pandya (87 off 90) and Kishan (82 off 81) added 138 runs in 141 balls for the fifth wicket.
For Pakistan, all the wickets were taken by the pacers. Shaheen Afridi took four while Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah took three wickets each.
The arch-rivals will meet once again on September 10 in the Super Four stage should India win their final group game against Nepal on September 4.
