Ravichandran Ashwin criticized the Asia Cup 2025, saying it lacks strong teams and suggested adding India A or South Africa to make it more competitive.
Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin raised concerns over the competitiveness of the Asia Cup 2025. He opined that the tournament lacks strong teams and may not prepare players for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
Despite Afghanistan’s good performance, Ashwin believes their bowling attack wouldn’t challenge India in a serious match. The tournament includes eight teams: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, UAE, Nepal, and Hong Kong.
Ashwin suggested adding either India’s junior team or a strong side like South Africa to make the competition more balanced. He also pointed out that teams like Bangladesh offer little contest against India, reducing the tournament’s overall challenge.
“They can almost include a South Africa and make it an Afro-Asia Cup to make the tournament competitive. As it is now, they should probably include an India A side for it to be some contest. We’ve not even spoken about Bangladesh. Because there is nothing to talk about with them. How are these teams going to even compete against India?” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
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“This is not some curtain raiser for the 2026 T20 World Cup, it’s only a curtain. This tournament isn’t some major yardstick for it. Even against the so-called threat of the Afghanistan bowlers, if India bat well and score 170+, who will Afghanistan chase this down with? It’s nearly impossible. The only way to defeat India is by somehow restricting them to 155 on a good day and then chasing it down. Normally, a T20 is thrilling, but India will likely make even that one-sided in this Asia Cup,” Ashwin added.
The event started on September 9 in Abu Dhabi, with Afghanistan beating Hong Kong by 94 runs in the opening match.
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Last Updated on September 10, 2025
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