Reports: BCCI refuses to send Indian cricket teams for Asian Games

A view of logo of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). (Photo by Aniruddha Chowhdury/Mint via Getty Images)

Despite constant requests from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided not to send Indian cricket teams to the 2023 Asian Games. The postponed Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8. It is worth noting that cricket is the only sport in which India will not be represented at the Asiad.

Bhupender Bajwa, India’s chef de mission for the Asian Games, stated that the country had entries in all sports except cricket. The BCCI is said to have cited international responsibilities as the reason for not sending teams to the quadrennial event, according to Bajwa. 

“We have entries in all sports except one – cricket (team) isn’t going. They said they are preoccupied. We sent 3-4 emails to them but when we had to send entries to the organisers, they said they won’t go,” Bajwa told Indian Express. 

According to the report, a BCCI official said that the IOA sent the email a day before the deadline to submit entries. He also stated that at that time BCCI had already finalised the FTP for women’s cricket, adding further that the women’s team will not be available for the Asian Games as they will be facing South Africa and New Zealand in limited-overs series, while the men’s team will be in action in October-November in the ODI World Cup at home.

“We had received the mail from IOA just one day before the deadline. At the same time, the BCCI already has finalised the FTP for women’s cricket. During the Asian Games, our team won’t be available as they will be playing in a tournament,” the BCCI official quoted as saying by Indian Express.

This is not the first time the BCCI has denied sending cricket teams to the Asian Games, having done that in 2010 and 2014 despite cricket being a part of the sporting event. Meanwhile, cricket was not included in the 2018 Asian Games. The BCCI did, however, allow the women’s team to compete at the Commonwealth Games last year, where they claimed a silver medal.