BCCI has to reply: Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Indian cricket’s participation at Asian Games

Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday stated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has to reply on the participation of nationwide groups, each women and men, on the Asian Games 2022.

The Asian Games will happen in Hangzhou, China in September. Cricket, to be performed in T20 format between September 10 and 25, shall be making a return to the Asian Games for the primary time since 2014.

Indian males’s and girls’s cricket groups are prone to skip the Asian Games attributable to prior commitments. Cricket has featured on the Asian Games solely twice – 2010 and 2014 – however the BCCI did not ship groups on each events.

When India Today requested about Indian cricket’s absence from the Asian Games, Thakur dodged the query and easily stated: “BCCI has to answer.”

India ladies’s workforce has a white-ball tour of England scheduled concurrently the 2022 Asian Games, whereas males’s workforce has a T20 World Cup looming in Australia in October.

Earlier this yr, the BCCI Secretary Jay Shah was quoted as saying: “As far as the Asian Games in Hangzhou is concerned, a final decision on whether to send men’s and women’s teams will be taken later and based on our existing commitments.”

However, the BCCI hinted that it’ll give choice to bilateral sequence particularly after Covid-19 pandemic.

“The BCCI has always stood by member boards and helped them in these difficult times. The board firmly believes in honouring its bilateral commitments.”

Meanwhile, when requested about dropping of capturing from the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Thakur known as the choice a blow to the Indian participation.

“Last time we had 16 medals (at the 2018 Commonwealth Games). This (dropping from the 2022 event) is a blow to Indian medal numbers at Commonwealth Games. These things are discussed at CWG meeting. IOA has to tell under what circumstances this decision was take. Nonetheless, 215 athletes will be participating,” Thakur stated on the sidelines of equipment unveiling and send-off ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Shooting, together with wrestling and archery, has additionally been dropped from the preliminary checklist of sports activities for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

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