Fans in Dubai showed a cold response to India’s Champions Trophy 2025 clash against Bangladesh as the Men in Blue started their campaign on Thursday (Feb 20). Bidding for their third title in the Champions Trophy, India faced Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium but only a few turned up for the contest in the stadium. Netizens did not sit back and slammed the authorities with vacant seats being the talk of the hour. 

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Netizens slam authorities

Holding a capacity of 25,000 fans as the match started only a few fans were seen turning up for the mega clash. The pictures left everyone on the internet baffled as the Indian cricket team’s matches hardly see less attention. A big Indian population lives in the United Arab Emirates, however, the fans did show up in the excruciating heat of Dubai.

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One of the social media users wrote, “There is no crowd in Dubai because it's hot and fans know that the Dubai Stadium doesn't have the world-class spray facilities of Cuttack.”

Another wrote, “Indians are considered as locals in Dubai, but on weekdays, the attendance is almost ZERO. You were just trying to humiliate the host nation yesterday and nothing else.#IndvsBan #BANvsIND #iccchampionstrophy2025 #ChampionsTrophy…”

The banter continued as the authorities were slammed by another user, “Stadium is completely empty for India match. I thought Indians were running cricket worldwide. It’s half-day in UAE too still completely empty.”

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India on top in Bangladesh contest

At the time of writing, Bangladesh were 83/5 in 21 overs as they lost wickets in the powerplays. Bangladesh lost Soumya Sarkar and Najmul Hossain Shanto for a duck before Mushfiqur Rahim joined the unwanted club. Tanzid Hasan stabilised the innings with a 25-run knock before he was sent back by Axar Patel. The all-rounder was on a hat-trick at one stage with back-to-back wickets.