The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has made a decision to retain the Asia Cup Super 4 and final matches in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as the weather conditions in the capital city have improved.
There were speculations in recent days that these matches might be moved to Hambantota due to heavy rains in Colombo.
The decision was reached after discussions between the ACC, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB), and the official broadcaster.
The broadcaster cited difficulties in relocating their equipment and staff to Hambantota on such short notice as a significant factor in the decision.
Interestingly, it was SLC that initially suggested Hambantota as an alternative venue for the five Asia Cup Super 4 matches and the final, as the city had been experiencing a drought in the preceding weeks, making it a more feasible option for hosting the matches.
The Sri Lanka-leg of Super 4 will be started with a game between India and Pakistan on September 10 at the R Premadasa Stadium.
This will be the second time India will take on Pakistan in the Asia Cup.
The league match between the two sides was rained off after India made 266 all out, courtesy fifties from Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya.
The ACC also briefly dabbled with the idea of shifting the matches to Pallekele and Dambulla only to abandon it later.
While Pallekele too has been experiencing heavy rains, the Rangiri International Stadium in Dambulla is under maintenance to install new floodlights and a few other facilities.
Both of India’s group matches were affected by rain.
The much anticipated India-Pakistan clash at the Pallekele stadium in Kandy was called off after one innings due to heavy downpour on Saturday, while India’s match against Nepal on Monday was also truncated due to rain.
