Asia Cup 2025: Scheduling grievances take spotlight at captains’ press conference

The Asia Cup captains’ press conference kicked off with a request to the media to keep the nature of questions apolitical to prevent a potentially uncomfortable situation in a tightly packed room.

But about 15 minutes into the interaction, the tournament organisers were themselves put in a spot by Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan, who termed the courtesy call ‘not ideal’.

“To play a game in Abu Dhabi and to stay here in Dubai. You have all three games in Abu Dhabi, but your stay is in Dubai. But as a professional cricketer, you have to accept all these things. You have to be well-prepared, and you have to be mentally strong,” Rashid said.

The Afghan’s displeasure is understandable, given that his team is scheduled to play the tournament opener against Hong Kong around seven hours later (6:30 p.m. local time) in energy-sapping heat in Abu Dhabi, which is about a two-hour drive from Dubai.

Meanwhile, the unassuming Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka drew raucous laughter as he admitted to being ‘very sleepy’ when asked about his qualms with the scheduling.

“Right now, I feel very sleepy. I should answer it (the question) tomorrow, I think. It is really hard. We played back to back games in Zimbabwe and then travelled here straightaway. We need to have a couple of days off; I hope the coach will give us,” Asalanka drawled.

The Sri Lankans are coming off playing consecutive bilateral T20Is in Zimbabwe on September 6 and 7 and would have had to undertake a nearly 10-hour-long flight to make it to Dubai in time for the formality.

However, much to Asalanka’s relief, Sri Lanka doesn’t play until Saturday, when it faces Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi.

Though Rashid and Asalanka provided some comic relief in voicing their grievances, the spotlight was expectedly on India skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his Pakistani counterpart Salman Ali Agha.

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The archrivals face off on September 14 in Dubai, and the two leaders admitted they weren’t going to fetter their players’ aggression amidst the political and diplomatic tensions between the neighbours.

“Aggression is always there on the field when we take the field. Without aggression, I don’t think you can play the sport,” Suryakumar opined.

“If someone wants to be aggressive in the field, they are more than welcome to do that. When it comes to fast bowlers, they are always aggressive, and you can’t just stop them because that is what keeps them going. From my side, there is no instruction for anyone,” Agha said.

Published on Sep 09, 2025