Sehwag slams Asia Cup scheduling, asks India 'not to play'

.

Virender Sehwag, the former Indian opener and captain, has condemned the poor scheduling of the forthcoming Asia Cup 2018 starting from September 15.

The Indian cricket team will face arch-rivals Pakistan on September 19. The news has already created an excitement among the cricket fans in both the countries. However, for the Indian cricketers, it might be a bit hectic.

India begins their Asia Cup 2018 journey on September 18 against a yet-to-be-confirmed qualifier. Without any gap or off, the men-in-blue will play Pakistan the very next day. And this poor planning has turned the former India cricketer furious.

During a talk show on an Indian news channel, Sehwag 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.

Sehwag even suggested that India should have withdrawn their participation from the tournament. He said, “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.”

Dragging BCCI in the matter, Sehwag stated that the board should have intervened into the matter.

“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.”

All the leading Asian cricket playing nations are set to participate in the tournament. While India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are all confirmed participants, with the remaining spot still up for grabs amongst hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Oman, Nepal, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Here's the schedule:

Group Stage

15 September - Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (Dubai)

16 September - Pakistan vs Qualifier (Dubai)

17 September - Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)

18 September - India vs Qualifier (Dubai)

19 September - India vs Pakistan (Dubai)

20 September - Bangladesh vs Afghanistan (Abu

Super Four

21 September - Group A Winner vs Group B Runner-up (Dubai)

21 September - Group B Winner vs Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

23 September - Group A Winner vs Group A Runner-up (Dubai)

23 September - Group B Winner vs Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

25 September - Group A Winner vs Group B Winner (Dubai)

26 September - Group A Runner-up vs Group B Runner-up (Abu

Final

28 September - Asia Cup 2018 Final (Dubai)