The tournament keeps progressing, but no matches are being played.
For a nation that is trying to increase its presence in cricket, Japan is facing its most embarrassing moment currently. After all the excitement and build-up by the host for the Asian Games’ cricket tournament, the entire championship has fallen apart. It seems that the Asian Games are going to be a complete failure when it comes to cricket this year. What’s sad is that it isn’t Japan’s fault either. They were just vastly underprepared for hosting something like cricket at the level of infrastructure they have for the sport.
The experts have been questioning Japan’s ability to take cricket seriously for a long while now. Aakash Chopra in particular has been highly critical of the arrangements they have and the type of equipment they use. At first, he felt like the pitches were not good enough. Then, he raised questions about the games getting washed out or shortened because of Japan’s inability to handle rain at the official cricketing venues for the Asian Games. It seems like Chopra’s predictions are coming true, and Japan is losing all the hype it created.
The threat has been looming over them from Day 1
To promote cricket in Japan and make the sport a massive success in the Asian Games this year, Japan had a brilliant idea. They challenged the defending champions for the gold medal and the strongest T20 team in international cricket, India. This matchup started well at first, but soon the rain-soaked outfield ruined the audience’s hopes for a good game. With each team playing five overs, the historic face-off became nothing more than a fleeting event.
It felt okay at first, but since then, Japan’s rain problem has become worse. The weather keeps ruining the cricket games, and at this point, it has made their matchups and group stage a laughing stock. Since none of the teams were able to complete their matches, the highest-ranking teams immediately progressed to the semi-finals. This angered the cricket veterans and experts who wanted the Asian Games to actually promote the sport among a new audience.
“I saw the India vs. Japan encounter. Frankly speaking, it seemed like a club match: the camera angles, the outfield, the pitch, the boundaries—everything looked so ordinary. They can't even arrange the matches in the rain. Games are getting washed out,” Kris Srikkanth said while bashing Japan.
“They don't have proper facilities to drain the excess water, and they are gifting the match to higher-ranked teams. If you can't organize a cricket match with a little rain here & there, why are you including cricket then? Cricket should never be included under such pathetic arrangements."
Srikkanth’s words make sense, especially considering how the efforts of the smaller, lower-ranked teams were undermined because the veterans have better international standing. Many players did not get an opportunity to represent their nation at such an important level. It does raise the question: why include a sport if the host can’t ensure that it can be organized perfectly?
