Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has openly criticised the standard of the ongoing Asia Cup 2025, claiming that the tournament lacks the competitiveness required to serve as a proper build-up for next year’s T20 World Cup in India. Speaking on his YouTube channel ahead of India’s opening clash against the UAE on September 10, Ashwin made strong remarks about the format and the participating teams.
‘Not A Curtain Raiser, Just a Curtain’
Ashwin was blunt in his assessment, stating that the Asia Cup was far from being a platform for testing teams ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. “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,” Ashwin remarked.
He went on to argue that most teams in the tournament, including Bangladesh, posed no real challenge to India. “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?” he added.
Calls for Afro-Asia Cup or India A Participation
To improve the competition, Ashwin suggested bold alternatives. “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,” the former spinner said.
Ashwin also highlighted that India’s dominance was almost inevitable in the current set-up, suggesting that most matches would turn into one-sided affairs.
Afghanistan’s Bright Start Not Enough
The Asia Cup 2025 began on September 9 with Afghanistan thrashing Hong Kong by 94 runs. Riding on Sediqullah Atal’s unbeaten 73 and Azmatullah Omarzai’s record 20-ball fifty, Afghanistan posted 188/6 before restricting Hong Kong to just 94/9. Omarzai, who also took 1/4 with the ball, was named Player of the Match.
Despite Afghanistan’s strong start, Ashwin dismissed their chances against India. “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,” he said.
India Expected to Dominate
According to Ashwin, the only way teams like Afghanistan could defeat India would be by restricting them to around 155 on a good day and then chasing it down. Otherwise, he believes India will cruise through the tournament. “Normally a T20 is thrilling but India will likely make even that one-sided in this Asia Cup,” Ashwin concluded.
