DUBAI: Is ODI cricket dying? That’s the first question that popped up in one’s mind as for the second day running several empty stands were witnessed at a venue in the ICC 2025 Champions Trophy.
When proceedings began in India’s opening match of the tournament-often referred to as the mini-World Cup- against Bangladesh in a Group A match on Thursday afternoon, there was hardly any crowd at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium- a rare, rare sight when Team India is playing.
For a stadium which can accommodate around 30,000 spectators-25,000 is the official capacity, it was not a pleasant sight to see not more than around 10,000 fans at the magnificent DICS after Bangladesh chose to bat first after winning the toss.
Soon, pictures of the empty stands during the first half of the match went viral on social media, as fans, justifiably, began wondering about the relevance and future of ODI cricket. Things, of course, were expected to get better when India would bat in the evening, as many spectators would turn up after work-Thursday being obviously a working day-to enjoy the action.
However, the fact still can’t be ignored that stadiums are packed to the rafters right from ball one when India play their matches in any part of the world, with every ball being cheered loudly, so the crowd no-show in the first half of this game was an even bigger shocker.
That it’s struggling to attract crowds is not just a hugely worrying sign for the Champions Trophy, being held after a gap of eight years, but also One-Day cricket in particular, which is already facing a question of mere existence in the face of continuous proliferation of glamorous T20 leagues.
On Wednesday, there was a pathetic turnout for the opening game of the Champions Trophy between co-hosts Pakistan and New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi too, prompting former England captain-turned commentator Michael Vaughan to criticize the authorities on this front. Not only was this host nation Pakistan’s first match of the tournament, it was also the start of the first ICC event in the country since 1996-after nearly a three-decade gap.
“Great to see the champions trophy being played in Pakistan .. First major event since 1996 .. Have they forgotten to tell the locals it’s on .. Where is the crowd ?? #ChampionsTrophy2025,” wrote Vaughan on X.
Highlighting the empty stand in the first match of the Dubai leg of the Champions Trophy, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who conceptualized the highly successful and cash-rich T20 league, wondered if the ODIs should be scrapped altogether.
“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?,” wrote Modi on his X account.
The deserted stands, and the lack of interest in this tournament and the ODIs tell you a story-unless this format and this event reinvents itself, their days are numbered.
