Asian Games cricket hit by India withdrawal

Cricket’s debut at the Asian Games this year suffered a body blow as India pulled out, while top stars from Pakistan and Sri Lanka were also set to miss the competition.

By (AFP)

Published: Tue 1 Jun 2010, 5:37 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Nov 2023, 3:36 PM

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said it would not field the men’s and women’s teams at the November 12-27 Games in the Chinese city of Guangzhou because of prior commitments.

‘We would not be able to send our team, both men and women, for the Asian Games in China because of international commitments,’ BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty told reporters in Mumbai.

‘We have communicated the same to the Indian Olympic Association.’

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India has huge cricket-mad television audiences, making the team an attractive proposition for any organiser. But the national side is due to host New Zealand in November.

There were also grave doubts if two other Asian Test nations — Pakistan and Sri Lanka — would field their top cricketers.

Pakistan on Monday announced a Test and one-day series against South Africa from October 25 to November 25, while Sri Lanka are scheduled to host the West Indies in the same period.

Bangladesh, the other Test nation from the continent, has a home one-day series against Zimbabwe in November.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said it was disappointed at India’s decision to withdraw from the competition.

‘It is obviously sad and disappointing that India will not play cricket at the Asian Games,’ OCA secretary-general Randhir Singh, who is also secretary of the Indian Olympic Association, told reporters.

‘The Asian Cricket Council worked really hard to get cricket included in the Games. But the BCCI is an independent sports body. We can’t force them to play.’

The OCA had said earlier that Twenty20 cricket was included in the Asian Games only after the big four promised to send their best teams to Guangzhou.

‘India and Pakistan were the drivers,’ OCA president Shaikh Ahmad Al Sabah said in May last year. ‘Asia’s four Test-playing nations have committed to sending their best available teams.’

Cricket, a non-Olympic sport, was last seen at a major multi-sport event at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, but was dropped for the next two editions in England and Australia.

India had picked two teams in 1998, sending one to the Kuala Lumpur Games and the other for a one-day series against Pakistan in Toronto, Canada.

Cricket’s only appearance at the Olympics was in Paris in 1900, where in a two-day match Great Britain — represented by touring team Devon and Somerset Wanderers — beat France, whose team mainly consisted of members of the British Embassy.

The Guangzhou Games will feature 42 disciplines, with cricket, dance sport, dragon boat racing, and roller sport added to the agenda.

More than 14,000 athletes from 45 countries are expected to take part.