Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan women’s cricket team will have to wait to defend their title after the Asian Games 2022 in China were postponed due to Covid-19 on Friday. The 19th edition of the Games was supposed to take place between September 10 and 25 in Hangzhou but a surge of Covid-19 cases in China has forced a change of plans. The matches were supposed to be played at the Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field, which was unveiled in July 2021. Cricket was all set to return to the Asian Games after a gap of eight years but has been delayed with the tournament postponed with new dates to be announced soon. Cricket made its debut at the Asian Games in 2010 in Guangzhou. Pakistan women won gold after defeating Bangladesh by 10 wickets. In 2014, the last time it was part of the competition, Sri Lanka won the gold medal by beating Afghanistan by 68 runs in the men’s event, while Pakistan won the gold by defeating Bangladesh by four runs in the women’s event. Then, in 2018, as part of a measure taken by the organisers to reduce the number of events, Cricket was cut from the list.

Earlier this year, it was reported that India — who have never participated in the Games before — are unlikely to field teams owing to existing commitments. Question marks had been raised over the last few weeks with Shanghai — which is 175 kilometres away from Hangzhou — having recently been locked down because of a Covid-19 outbreak. Most international sporting events in China have been postponed or cancelled since the start of the pandemic, with the notable exception of the Winter Olympics, which went ahead in Beijing under strict health controls in February. Hangzhou organisers said in early April that all 56 competition venues for the Games had been completed and test events were continuing as the lakeside city prepared to host more than 11,000 athletes from 44 nations and territories. A total of 482 medal events across 40 sports and 61 disciplines were set to feature at the Asian Games, including debuts for breaking and esports.

Numerous international sporting events in China have been cancelled during the pandemic due to the country implementing strict COVID-19 restrictions, which have included borders largely being closed to foreigners. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games represented a rare exception to this, but was held within a closed-loop system which restricted participants from interacting with the general Chinese public.

Asian cricketing powerhouses Pakistan and India have been the drivers behind the inclusion of cricket in the Asian Games. Cricket has also been played once at the Commonwealth Games, in 1998, when India and Pakistan sent teams to Kuala Lumpur. However, the Shaun Pollock-led South Africa won the gold there and Australia, captained by Steve Waugh, the silver with New Zealand winning the bronze medal.