‘Not ideal’: Rashid Khan criticises Asia Cup press conference in Dubai ahead of game in Abu Dhabi

The much-awaited T20 edition of the Asia Cup is all set to commence today in Abu Dhabi with the match between Hong Kong and Afghanistan. However, the captains of two teams, Yasim Murtaza and Rashid Khan, had to travel to Dubai for the pre-tournament press conference, hours before the opening game in Abu Dhabi, and the latter made his disappointment clear during the media interaction.

Rashid noted that the situation is not ideal for traveling for the press conference just before the match on the same day. Notably, the distance between Dubai and Abu Dhabi is around 139 km and it takes around 90 minutes to travel one way. With the match scheduled to get underway at 6:30 PM local time, Rashid and Murtaza might have to directly reach the venue for the match after the press conference.

However, the Afghanistan skipper also recalled travelling between cities during the early days of his career and stated that as professionals, they can’t complain. “I don’t think this press conference is ideal that we have to travel from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and back on game day. But we have to be professional and be strong. I have travelled between cities and played matches within hours,” Rashid said in the pre-tournament press conference today.

Hong Kong and Afghanistan facing each other after nine years

Meanwhile, Afghanistan and Hong Kong are facing each other in the shortest format after a gap of nine years. They last locked horns in March 2016 during the T20 World Cup in India and have overall faced five times in T20Is with Afghanistan winning on three occasions, while Hong Kong have also emerged victorious twice. With Bangladesh and Sri Lanka being the other two teams in their group, both teams will be looking to start their campaign on a high. Only top two teams from each group will make it to the Super Four round and every game is extremely important for teams.

Also Read