Who needs the Asia Cup?

The Asia Cup is akin to an unexciting movie being played in a ramshackle.

It is ill-timed not just because of the oppressive conditions but also as it is placed in the inevitable stillness that follows the IPL extravaganza. And all we are assured of are a deluge of no-contests.

The prospect of a couple of mouth-watering India-Pakistan ties might prop up the tournament, but the bare stands during a majority of matches don’t speak well about the tournament. After all, the likes of the UAE and Hong Kong merely make up the numbers while Bangladesh’s victories have been too few and far between. The moot question here is do we need the tournament at all?

The international calendar can’t get any busier, especially with the inundation of T20 matches. At a time when the international body should be thinking of cutting down on One-Day Internationals, one wonders what good such a tournament will do except generating a little extra revenue.

The threat of dilution because of too much of cricket is on two fronts – the first is of overkill and the second of players’ injuries. Both are detrimental in the long run and tournaments like the Asia Cup, or for that matter an inconsequential tri-series, form an ill wind that blows no one any good.

The frequency of the Asia Cup has been irregular over the years and there has been confusion over the hosts once too often. Even this edition looked all set to move to Sri Lanka or Bangladesh earlier this year but Pakistan finally got to organise it, a dry run ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy. And Karachi is playing host to all but three preliminary league matches only because the sea breeze is likely to ensure less distress on the field.

What the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) needs to do in such a scenario is concentrate on tournaments for youth teams and have a showpiece event that is able to generate both interest and money by virtue of being a quality tournament. Having a qualifying league for the fourth team could be a good idea.

Concentrating on youth would help develop the game, the qualifying league would give the lowly teams something to fight for, while the main event would have some pull and not be a tournament with inconsequential preliminary and semifinal league matches.

In fact, lop-sided affairs are something that need to be tackled with all seriousness, not just by the ACC but also the ICC. Most matches in the first stage of the World Cup are anything but exciting. In contrast to a World Cup like that of football, where the best of teams come through a grueling qualifying system, the showpiece event in cricket sees greenhorns vie with top cricketers of the world. The odd victory for a team like Ireland may not do much good to their players while the World Cup runs the risk of being reduced to no-contests early on.

In other words, while football officials ensure that the best play in the World Cup even at the cost of top teams like England and the Netherlands, in cricket, World Cup appearances are handed out to minnows who come through a qualifying tournament that lacks quality. The earlier cricket authorities show the willingness to tackle the scourge of one-sided matches, the better it will be for the game.