The organizers have officially announced that they will not be able to provide five-star hotel facilities for the cricket teams participating in the Asian Games, which are scheduled to begin on the 24th in Nagoya, Japan. This year, teams representing 10 countries – Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Oman, and Nepal – will compete in the tournament.

Arrangements have been made for the Sri Lankan team, which has directly qualified for the quarter-finals, to play its first match on the 29th of this month.

Although five-star hotel accommodation for cricketers during overseas tours is usually a mandatory custom, providing such facilities this time has become problematic due to the limited number of high-level hotels in Nagoya, where the matches are being held. If players were to stay in five-star hotels in cities like Tokyo or Osaka, it would take about an hour and a half by bullet train to reach the stadium from there. To avoid this travel inconvenience for the players, the organizers have taken steps to provide accommodation within Nagoya city, where the tournament is taking place.

Although there was some heated discussion initially regarding accommodation facilities, Mr. Eran Wickramaratne, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricket Interim Committee, stated that there is no issue with the facilities for Sri Lankan players and that discussions have been held with the Asian Cricket Council regarding this. Furthermore, Mr. Rajeev Shukla, Vice President of the Indian Cricket Board, also mentioned that although the provided accommodations are not of five-star standard, they are comfortable, which was confirmed through videos and photographs. Accordingly, the Indian Cricket Board has decided to focus more on the playing field and pitch rather than hotel facilities.

A delegation from the Asian Cricket Council has already visited Japan and inspected the stadium and pitches where the matches will be held. Following these inspections, it has been confirmed that the field and pitches are in a satisfactory condition. With the technical assistance of officials in charge of the Pallekele Stadium, this cricket stadium has been prepared for matches by creating a hybrid pitch on a site that was previously a baseball field.