Asia Cup: A Brief History Of Asia's Coveted Cricket Tournament

Asia Cup 2022: In one of the World's most prestigious cricket tournaments, Asia Cup 2022 is set to start on 27th August. The tournament will last till 11th September in which a total of 9 teams will participate and all of them would be eyeing the Asia Cup title. Ahead of the Asia Cup 2022, let's take a look and dive into the history of the Asia Cup. Asia Cup was hosted in 2018 for the last time it was won by India. 

Asia Cup History

Asia Cup 1984: The first version of the Asia Cup tournament was held in 1984 in the United Arab Emirates. A round-robin tournament was played between India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Round robin means all the participating teams had to play games against each other. India won the tournament with two wins to their name. While Sri Lanka were the runners-up with 1 win to their name and Pakistan was placed last with two losses. 

Asia Cup 1986: Sri Lanka hosted the 1986 Asia Cup. Interestingly, India didn't participate in the tournament due to bad relations with Sri Lanka. Bangladesh on the other hand participated in the Asia Cup for the first time. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in the final to win the title. 

Asia Cup 1988: Bangladesh hosted Asia Cup in 1988. It was for the first time that Bangladesh hosted a multi-nation tournament. India defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets to win the Asia Cup for a second time. 

Asia Cup 1990: The fourth Asia Cup 1990-91 was hosted by India. Due to stressed relations with India, Pakistan withdrew from the competition. India defeated Sri Lanka in the final to lift the Asia Cup trophy. 

Asia Cup 1995: The fifth Asia Cup 1995 was played in the United Arab Emirates. India and Sri Lanka made it to the final ahead of Pakistan due to a better run rate. India defeated Sri Lanka in the final for the third time in a row to win the Asia Cup. 

Asia Cup 1997: The sixth Asia Cup was hosted in Sri Lanka. Once again, India and Sri Lanka made it to the final. However, the tables turned this time and Sri Lanka defeated India by 8 wickets to win their second Asia Cup title. 

Asia Cup 2000: Seventh Asia Cup 2000 was held in Bangladesh. Pakistan and Sri Lanka played against each other in the final. While India managed only 1 win, against Bangladesh and couldn't qualify for the final. Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the final to win the Asia Cup for the first time. 

Asia Cup 2004: The eighth Asia Cup 2004 was held in Sri Lanka. This was a bit different from the older editions as UAE and Hong Kong were included for the first time in Asia Cup. In the final, Sri Lanka defeated India to win the Asia Cup. 

Asia Cup 2008: The 9th Asia Cup was hosted in Pakistan. Sri Lanka defeated India by 100 runs to win the tournament. Sri Lanka's mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis conceded 13 runs and picked up 6 wickets in the final against India, completely dismantling the opposition. Ajantha Mendis was adjudged the 'Player of the Tournament'.

Asia Cup 2010: 10th Asia Cup was hosted between 15th-24th June in Sri Lanka. Only the four test-playing Asian nations participated in this tournament. India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs in the final to win the Asia Cup. 

Asia Cup 2012: The eleventh edition of the Asia Cup was hosted in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Pakistan and Bangladesh qualified for the finals. Bangladesh defeated India and Sri Lanka to make it to the finals. Pakistan defeated Bangladesh in a last-over thriller to win their second Asia Cup title. Shakib Al Hasan was adjudged the 'Player of the Tournament'. 

Asia Cup 2014: The 12th Asia Cup was hosted in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This time, Afghanistan participated along with 5 nations. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in the final by 5 wickets and won the Asia Cup for the 5th time. Sri Lanka's Lahiru Thirimanne was adjudged the 'Player of the Tournament'. 

Asia Cup 2016: It was now decided that the format of the Asia Cup will be played on a rotational basis between 50-over and 20-over. Asia Cup 2016 was played in T20 format. The Asia Cup was played just prior to the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup in which 5 teams participated. India defeated Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the final to win the Asia Cup. 

Also Read: Scorecard

Asia Cup 2018: Played in the One-day format, India defeated Bangladesh by wickets to win the Asia Cup title. Shikhar Dhawan scored 342 runs in 5 matches and was the highest run-scorer in the tournament, winning the 'Player of the Series' award.