The India vs Pakistan Asia Cup final will be telecast across five channels and digital platforms, but on the same day, another Indian team is being pushed into the shadows.
The Indian women’s hockey team, which will play against China in the Asian Cup final, will not have any major broadcast, despite the same broadcaster holding rights to both tournaments.
The stark contrast has left viewers and fans outraged, and the bias is there for all to see. “Five channels vs zero channels. Same broadcaster. Same country. Imagine explaining this logic to the women who’ve trained their entire lives to represent India,” wrote one fan, calling it a spectacular failure.
Another pointed out the larger systemic problem: “Cricketers are celebrated every day, but other athletes only get attention during big events and then fade away. If we raise our voices consistently, more sports will get the recognition they deserve.”
Some fans highlighted the commercial bias at play. “No doubt it is unfair… it all depends on TRPs, sponsorships, and ads. Women’s cricket didn’t get coverage once upon a time either. It was their performances that forced broadcasters to take notice,” a former hockey player noted.
But for many, this blackout represents more than just poor prioritisation – it symbolises India’s cricketing monopoly. “When a high-stakes final like the Women’s Hockey Asian Cup isn’t deemed ‘worthy’ of broadcast, it reveals deep bias and commercial greed. Real change begins when viewers demand diversity over monopoly, pride over prejudice,” read another fan comment.
Hence, this disparity between the wall-to-wall coverage of cricket and the stoic silence surrounding women’s hockey is not just a matter of scheduling but also a matter of priority. Whether the public outcry ends as a fleeting Twitter storm remains to be seen, but broadcasters must recognise that every sport deserves its share of the spotlight.