 "Empty stands can be seen in the background as Jasprit Bumrah bowls in India's Asia Cup match. Image: AFP")
The Asia Cup this year has opened doors to eight teams, including some of the lower-ranked sides like the UAE, Oman, and Hong Kong. The idea was to give smaller teams a chance to play with the big names of Asian cricket. However, fans are concerned that the tournament is just turning into a one-sided show.
The signs have not been good so far as all the matches have been played in front of half-empty stadiums . The tournament opener between Afghanistan and Hong Kong and India vs UAE match saw most of the seats empty despite big names like Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav being in action.
The subsequent matches between Bangladesh and Hong Kong and Pakistan and Oman also saw half-empty stands. It appears that fans don’t want to watch these Asia Cup games that look more like warm-up matches than real contests. While Afghanistan dominated Hong Kong, India crushed the UAE , showing the massive gap between the top teams and the rest.
Why is Asia Cup losing interest among fans?
These one-sided results make the tournament predictable and boring for fans. The gap between top-tier sides like India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and emerging teams like UAE, Oman, and Hong Kong is too wide. Many believe that mixing the smaller teams with the giants at this level is hurting the tournament’s image and, hence, the low attendance in the Asia Cup 2025.
However, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is compelled in some ways because there aren’t many teams in the region that are strong enough to challenge the big boys of cricket. But the ACC must soon find a way to address this issue, even if it means limiting the number of teams, because it is raising questions over the future of the tournament.
Even the big-ticket India vs Pakistan clash has not pulled in a huge crowd this time. At the time of writing this story, tickets for the Asia Cup match between the two rivals are still unsold. It shows that fans are losing interest in the Asia Cup, and the onus now lies with the ACC to do something to save this coveted regional event.