The Champions Trophy 2025 is still struggling with low attendance after Thursday’s India vs. Bangladesh match in Dubai left several stands all but deserted. This follows complaints about the lack of spectators at the Pakistan-New Zealand tournament’s opener in Karachi.
The second contest also had low attendance, much to the astonishment of announcers and followers, notwithstanding forecasts for betterment. Social media was abuzz with pictures of almost empty stands; only a few parts were full.
Lalit Modi Doubts the Importance of One Day
Former chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Modi, offered his opinion on whether One-Day International (ODI) cricket will exist. Suggesting the format might be becoming irrelevant, he posted his ideas on social media.
Modi wrote on X “Watching the @ICC champions trophy cricket match between #india and #bangladesh. Stands are empty That would not happen at an #ipl game. Is the one day format becoming irrelevant to the fans ? What’s your view ? Should one day cricket be scrapped and more test cricket ?”
Watching the @ICC champions trophy cricket match between #india and #bangladesh. Stands are empty That would not happen at an #ipl game. Is the one day format becoming irrelevant to the fans ? What’s your view ? Should one day cricket be scrapped and more test cricket ? #भारत…
— Lalit Kumar Modi (@LalitKModi) February 20, 2025
Summary match: India versus Bangladesh
In their Champions Trophy debut, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and elected to bat. Replacing Varun Chakaravarthy and Arshdeep Singh, India brought in Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja from their last ODI versus England.
In the pace assault, Bangladesh chose Tanzim Hasan over the highly talked about Nahid Rana to go for a combination of three seamers and two spinners.
Playing XI’s
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c). Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim; Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed; Mustafizur Rahman.
