Asia Cup, the only multi-team cricket tournament in Asia is again postponed to 2023. It is a much maligned tournament. There have been lot of instances when one of India or Pakistan have skipped the tournament for various reasons. Sri Lanka is the only team to have participated in all the editions. India are the defending champions. Asia Cup is staged once every couple of years. It was started in 1984 but only 14 editions have been so far possible. This leads to the question. Is the Asia Cup really needed? Does anyone even care about Asia Cup? Also, Tsotsobe had complained against Graeme Smith. Let me write about Asia Cup postponed and Tsotsobe allegation.
The reason given by ACC
On account of a packed FTP, it has been concluded that there is no practical window in the year when all the teams would be available to participate. The Board has accordingly considered the matter very carefully and determined that the only way ahead would be to postpone the event. It would therefore only be feasible for this edition of the tournament to be held in 2023 as there is already an Asia Cup in 2022. Dates for the same will be confirmed in due course.”
Asian teams do not plan their itinerary well in advance unlike countries like England or Australia. Infact, most of the series is rather last minute. Just the other day, Ganguly, the Indian board president dropped a casual statement about India touring Sri Lanka for a short limited overs series. However, Asia Cup is decided in advanced. If not the actual dates, atleast the tentative period and the country is already chosen. It is seldom met. It has become a practise off late, especially by the BCCI, that whenever they want to schedule a series that will benefit the board, it is the Asia Cup that becomes the scapegoat.
There are quite a lot of test playing nations in Asia. This clearly shows that the future of the game is in the sub-continent. The Asia Cup did play its part in that it gave opportunities to teams like Afghanistan. They were able to play a few games against top teams. However, I don’t see any other nation that will be in a position to challenge any of the 5 test playing nations in Asia in the next 25 years. Moreover, the standards in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and to a certain extent even Pakistan have come down drastically. The ACC must arrest that slide.
The way forward
The only way forward for the Asia Cup is to increase the frequency from the current couple of years to say once in 5 years. ACC must not oscillate between conducting the tournament in T20 format or ODI format. It must stick to the ODI format. ACC must ensure that the tournament is given sufficient promotion and thereby ensuring that boards like India take it seriously. Having the tournament once every 2 years dilutes the entire appeal of the tournament itself. Asia Cup is an important tournament within the continent. It gives the bragging rights for the team who wins the cup.
Tsotsobe’s allegation
It looks like the problems surrounding the South African cricket team, board and officials will never end. Every now and then something or the other comes up. News related to revamping the entire South African board, the magnitude of financial loss because of cancelled tours, charges against Boucher, Kallis expressing his displeasure in not being allowed to coach South Africa. There have been too many for comfort. Now, Tsotsobe has levelled serious allegation against one of the premier batsman and current director of cricket, Graeme Smith.
Tsotsobe has alleged that during the tour of England in 2012, after Boucher’s injury, the gloves was given to de Villiers rather than another black player in Tsolekille who was inline for a game. This he has alleged was at the behest of Smith who was intent on blocking a black player.
“Tsolekile was destined to replace Boucher‚ but suddenly AB de Villiers was made the keeper.
“This was confirmed by Smith who categorically stated that if Tsolekile was selected he would retire with immediate effect‚” alleges Tsotsobe.
Smith, the fighter
Graeme Smith was known for his fighting spirit. He became the captain at an young age of 21 and went onto remain the skipper till he retired. Smith was a primary reason for South Africa reigning supreme just after Australia’s reign. He never tolerated mediocrity. He always played to win and if he had to take tough decisions to achieve his goals, he never shied away. I am of the opinion that this was one of those occasions when the moment Boucher left, Smith must have sensed an opportunity to include a specialist bowler or a batsman that will enable him to win the series in England for the first time since readmission. By including Tsolekille, whose first class record with the bat wasn’t that great, Smith would not want to let go of an opportunity.
Smith can be tough. Maybe even abusive but he wasn’t racist as can be clearly seen from lots of videos where he celebrated wickets taken by Ntini just the same as he celebrated wickets taken by Steyn or Morkel. Probably Tsotsobe misunderstood the whole situation and as such has alleged that Smith did not pick Tsolekille because he is black. Let us hope better sense prevails.