SLC uncertain on Super Four venues

For the second day in succession, there was still no certainty as to where the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup will be held, but it was later ascertained that the Indian team will, irrespective, travel to Colombo from Kandy on Tuesday. 

Rohit Sharma and Co are expected to announce their World Cup squad at approximately 1:30 pm in Kandy before heading off to the country’s capital by road. 

As for the Asia Cup's venue conundrum, Hambantota has, defying logic, emerged frontrunner as of late on Monday night.   

With Colombo reduced a puddle over the last 48 hours, organisers started to look at alternative venues to conduct the rest of the tournament even though the next stage is only scheduled for a September 9 start. 

Going by what some Sri Lankan Cricket officials had to say, Pallekele - which is where the league stage is currently underway - and Hambantota were the frontrunners as of Sunday after Dambulla was sidelined because of renovation work. 

Pallekele and Hambantota, even though they have a decent amount of rain forecast for the next few days themselves, are better placed, but members of the broadcast team revealed that they are pushing to not travel to the latter. 

“It’s just a lot of equipment to be moved, but the bigger problem is connectivity in Hambantota,” said a source. “There is nothing there so accommodation becomes a big problem, the nearest hotel is easily an hour away.”

Fans voiced their concerns too as some members of all travelling nations have decided to fly back to their countries should the next stage move out of Colombo. 

“I will lose hundreds of dollars if they move because of cancellations,” said an Indian fan from Chennai. “I cannot afford to extend this trip if it goes to Hambantota because it will be too expensive. I also have three of my family members traveling with them so the costs will run into thousands of dollars.”

When contacted, SLC officials admitted that they themselves were not sure of what move to make next, but reckoned that Hambantota to be the wise call. 

The BCCI, however, are said to be hesitant about the location for a variety of reasons. Given the situation, however, they might have to relent to SLC’s suggestion.