&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Asia Cup 2025: Virat-Rohit's absence felt in Dubai as fans show cold response in India's tournament opener")
Fans showed a cold response to India’s Asia Cup 2025 opener as empty seats became the talk of the town at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. India, defending Asia Cup champions kick kick-started their Asia Cup 2025 campaign against hosts UAE on Wednesday (Sep 10). However, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli not in the T20I set-up any longer, very few fans turned up for the match. Visuals on television sets clearly indicated that fans eagerly miss the services of India’s two great batters.
Fans show cold response
The stadium, which hosted the Champions Trophy 2025 final in March, has a capacity of 25,000 and barely had an empty seat during the summit clash. However, fast forward to India’s Asia Cup opener, and it was a completely opposite picture as the stadium was spotted with empty seats. This clearly indicated that fans missed the services of Virat and Rohit, who no longer represent India in the T20I format.
The star duo announced their retirements from the T20I format after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean islands. After the win Rohit, Virat, alongside Ravindra Jadeja called time on their T20I careers. The duo is currently active in the ODI format only having also announced Test retirement in May.
What happened in the opening contest?
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India won the toss against the UAE in the opening contest, meaning they broke the 15-match streak without winning the toss. Suryakumar Yadav elected to bowl first at the Dubai International Stadium, a decision which proved to be right. At the time of writing, hosts UAE were 53/7 in 11.3 overs as Indian bowlers dominated the stage.
ALSO READ | From Rohit Sharma to Virat Kohli, 5 Indian batters with most runs in Asia Cup (ODIs + T20Is)
India vs UAE, Playing XI
India(Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy
United Arab Emirates(Playing XI): Muhammad Waseem(c), Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra(w), Asif Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Haider Ali, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Junaid Siddique, Simranjeet Singh
