R Ashwin Calls for Asia Cup Overhaul, Suggests India 'A' Inclusion to Boost Competition

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has slammed the lack of competition in the Asia Cup 2025. Speaking on his YouTube channel ahead of India's opener against UAE, Ashwin has made some harsh remarks about the continental tournament.

Speaking ahead of the September 10 game, Ashwin said that the standard of the Asia Cup was so bad that it could not act as a curtain raiser for the T20 World Cup 2026, set to be played in India, in the months of February and March.

Ashwin suggested that the tournament should either include India's junior sides or teams from Africa to make the competition better.

“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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The Asia Cup 2025 began on September 9 with Afghanistan taking on Hong Kong. The team from the Far East was no match for the Afghan Atalans as they failed to cross even 100 runs with the bat on Tuesday.

Chasing 189, Hong Kong were restricted to 94/9 in their 20 overs, losing the match by exactly the same margin. Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai won the Player of the Match award for his rapid fifty and 1/4 with the ball.

Despite Afghanistan's brilliant start, Ashwin believed that Rashid Khan's side was no match for India as well.

“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,” he said.

“The only way to defeat India is by somehow restricting them to 155 on a good day, and then chase it down. Normally a T20 is thrilling but India will likely make even that one-sided in this Asia Cup,” concluded the former India spinner.