Former Sri Lanka cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya on Tuesday defended the choice of Pallekele as one of the venues for the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. He added that the city has witnessed "unusual weather" in the past few days. 

The organisers and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) have come in for criticism for picking Sri Lanka as the co-host for the Asia Cup and not the UAE, with the second half of India's contest against Pakistan being washed out and the match against Nepal being truncated owing to rain.