MS Gill not in favour of cricket in Asian Games

Sports Minister MS Gill has said that it's upto BCCI to decide whether to send teams to Asian Games or not but he personally is not in favour of cricket's inclusion in such multi-sport events.

Sports Minister MS Gill, today, said it's upto BCCI to decide whether to send teams to Asian Games or not but he personally is not in favour of cricket's inclusion in such multi-sport events.

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Reacting to BCCI's decision not to send either the men's or women's teams to Guangzhou, China, where cricket makes its Asian Games debut in November, Gill said it was for the cricket board to decide.

"My take is simple. What programme BCCI is going to play is their business to decide and they are deciding it," Gill told reporters today. "As an individual, and not as the Sports Minister of India, I am not sure that things like cricket should be in the Asian Games," Gill said.

The minister said BCCI's crammed domestic and international calendar leaves the players with hardly any rest. "There are so many tournaments that the boys are simply too tired. Even race horses should be rested," he said.

BCCI's decision not to send teams to the Asian Games did not go down well with the Olympic Council of Asia which called it a setback to cricket's inclusion in truly international sports events.

Gill, meanwhile, saw no logic in stretching the list of Olympic sports to include cricket. "You see, in events likes Olympics and Asian Games, the structure includes athletics, gymnastics, wrestling and various disciplines. Now you can go on stretching them the reasons for which doesn't seem to me justified or understandable," he said.