Sehwag asks India to not play the Asia Cup

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag asked India to not participate in the upcoming Asia Cup as he slammed the shocking schedule at the Asia Cup where India have been scheduled to play One Day Internationals on back-to-back days on September 18 and 19.

India will be playing two ODIs on consecutive days according to the schedule released for the biennial tournament -- set to take place in the UAE from September 15.

Defending champions India will face arch-rivals Pakistan on September 19 after their opening game against the yet to be confirmed qualifier.

Sehwag expressed his frustration regarding this bizarre schedule as he spoke to India TV and said that it is impossible for any team to play back-to-back ODIs in the scorching heat of Dubai and urged the team to not participate in the tournament.

“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 told India TV.

“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,” Sehwag said.   

Sehwag said a player needs time to attain full fitness after playing a match and BCCI should have at least rescheduled India's Asia Cup match against the qualifier on September 18.

“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. A player needs at least 48 hours to recover after playing an ODI match because you field for 3.5 hours and after that if you bat for 2 hours then it makes your total time spend on the ground to 5.5 hours. So, it takes a minimum of 24 to 48 hours for a player to recover,” he said.

The legendary batsman also said playing back-to-back days will tire the Indian players and that will give Pakistan the advantage going into the match.

“When Team India will play the Asia Cup in Dubai in September, there will be too much heat and it will hamper the players’ recovery process. Pakistan will be in a good shape whereas the Indian players will be tired. And if we end up losing the match, then there might be a problem as we all are very passionate whenever we play against Pakistan. We always want India to win against Pakistan but if the Indian players are tired then Pakistan will definitely have the advantage,” Sehwag concluded.