Mumbai/Tokyo: Indian cricketers are generally provided five-star facilities during their domestic and overseas tours, but they will not enjoy such luxury at the Asian Games to be held in Japan this month.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also confirmed that during the Asian Games, Indian cricketers will stay in hotels designated by the Games’ organising committee. At the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, the accommodation arranged for cricketers and other athletes is not of five-star standard.
There had earlier been reports that the accommodation arrangements for cricketers and other athletes at the Asian Games were not up to the mark. However, the BCCI feels that the arrangements made for the athletes are adequate and appropriate.
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said at an advance programme related to the Indian cricket teams’ send-off on Tuesday: “The accommodation and other arrangements for the athletes in Japan are not at a five-star level, but they are very good. The organisers have sent us photographs and videos of the hotels and other arrangements in Nagoya, and based on those, we feel that the facilities there are comfortable. If these arrangements are rejected for the cricketers, they would then have to stay in hotels in Osaka or Tokyo, which are located quite far from the Asian Games venues.”
The Asian Games in Japan will begin on September 19, but India’s first match in the T20 cricket tournament will be played on September 28. The Indian cricketers will leave for Japan on September 20, while a historic match between the Indian and Japanese men’s teams is scheduled for September 22.
India are the defending champions in both the men’s and women’s cricket competitions at the Asian Games. VVS Laxman is the head coach of the Indian men’s team, while Amol Muzumdar is the head coach of the women’s team. Both coaches will be assisted by a team of specialist support staff.
India’s two squads:
Men’s Team: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh.
Women’s Team: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), G. Kamalini (wicketkeeper), Pratika Rawal, Deepti Sharma, Bharati Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Singh Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav and Nandani Sharma.
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