R Ashwin, a former spinner for the Indian cricket team, criticized the International Cricket Council (ICC) for scheduling the 2026 T20 World Cup and even asserted that no one would watch the tournament, which will take place in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. Early matchups pit India against affiliated countries, according to Ashwin, who asserted that these games had the potential to detract from the competition’s appeal. He went on to discuss the enormous amount of ICC events that are happening one after the other and compared them to tournaments that happened once every four years when he was younger, which did not lead to exhaustion and instead generated genuine excitement for the competitions.
“This time, nobody will watch the ICC T20 World Cup. Games like India vs. Namibia and India vs. USA will practically drag you away from the World Cup. World Cups used to take place every four years. As a result, interest is utilized to develop. In a video on his YouTube channel, “Ash ki Baat,” Ashwin stated that it was far more enjoyable for India to play either Sri Lanka or England in the opening round.
When I was in school in 1996, 1999, and 2003, the World Cup was held once every four years. We produced timetables, gathered World Cup cards, and bided our time. In the past, that anticipation developed organically,” Ashwin continued.
Ashwin had earlier given a dire forecast regarding ODI cricket’s future.
“After the 2027 World Cup, I’m not sure what the future holds for ODI. I’m a little concerned about it. Naturally, I’m following the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but I’m having a little trouble keeping up with how I followed the SMAT,” Ashwin remarked.
People began to watch when Rohit and Virat returned to the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Although we are aware that sports are always more important than persons, these athletes occasionally need to return in order to keep the game interesting. Naturally, few people follow the Vijay Hazare Trophy, a domestic competition, but they did since Kohli and Rohit were competing. “Even so, what happens when they quit playing ODIs?” he said.
