The 17th edition of the Asia Cup began in the United Arab Emirates from Tuesday, September 9.
Learn the story of cricket's journey from the first tournament to the present.
The Asia Cup is the largest non-ICC tournament played in the region and is held every two years.
However, it has been held for several years many times due to various reasons.
So, it is now being held for the 17th time in 41 years.
With the ICC T20 World Cup next year in mind, the Asia Cup is being played in this shorter format this time.
Earlier in 2016, the Asia Cup was played in this format for the first time as a preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup.
In this article, you will find the 41-year journey of the Asia Cup since 1984, which team has been crowned champion each time and many other interesting facts.
The Asia Cup was first held in 1984.
At that time, the tournament was played on a single league basis between just three teams: Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka.
Later, the number of teams increased and this time a record 8 teams are part of this event.
In the 16 editions played so far, India has won the trophy 8 times.
Sri Lanka has won the Asia Cup 6 times, while Pakistan has been crowned champions twice.
Sri Lanka has played in the most finals in the Asia Cup, with 13 finals.
India has reached 11 finals.
Pakistan have reached the final five times, while Bangladesh have played in the final three times, but the Bengal Tigers have never lifted the trophy.
However, it is interesting to note that in the 16 editions played so far, arch-rivals Pakistan and India have never met in the final.
Afghanistan and Nepal have yet to reach the final.
Nepal made its debut in the 2023 edition.
However, Nepal has been dropped from the Asia Cup, which begins tomorrow, and three new teams have been added, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Hong Kong.
In the first Asia Cup, played in 1984, the Pakistani team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round.
The final was played between India and Sri Lanka.
India won this final and became the first Asian champions.
Two years later, in 1986, India failed to make it past the first round and the final was played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The Islanders defeated the Shaheens to win their first cricket trophy.
Pakistan's long wait to become Asian champions is over The Pakistani team had to wait a long time of 18 years to be crowned Asian champions and at the beginning of the new millennium, the "Green Shirts" defeated Sri Lanka in the final of the first Asia Cup played in Bangladesh in 2000.
And then-captain Moin Khan lifted the trophy, healing the nation's grief after the humiliating defeat in the 1999 ICC ODI World Cup final.
12 years later, Pakistan became the Asian champions for the second time.
This time the captain was Misbah-ul-Haq and, surprisingly, this time too the venue of the match was Bangladesh, but the opponent in the final was different.
The Shaheens defeated the hosts Bengal Tigers in a thrilling battle to win the trophy.
Pakistan was awarded the right to host the 2023 Asia Cup, with all teams except India agreeing to come to Pakistan.
However, due to the BCCI's insistence, the tournament was played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka under a hybrid model.
India's stubbornness cost them everything:
Due to India's stubbornness and stubbornness in not coming to Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup, that tournament was played in Sri Lanka with Pakistan under a hybrid format.
However, the entire tournament is now being played in the UAE under a hybrid format, hosted by India.
At the time of this event, the current ICC president, Jay Shah, was the chairman of the Asian Cricket Council.
India was given such a favour in this tournament that they played all the matches on the same ground, while teams from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, including the host nation Pakistan, acted as intermediaries between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Due to fatigue during the journey and other problems, Pakistan could not reach the final, while Sri Lanka faced a historic defeat in the final.
Shortest final in the history of the cup:
The final played between India and Sri Lanka in the 2023 Asia Cup was the shortest final in the 39-year history of the tournament.
The winner was decided in just 21.3 overs.
It was also declared the third shortest final in the history of cricket.
In this rain-affected match, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first, but were bowled out for just 50 runs in 15.2 overs.
At one point, six Sri Lankan players were dismissed for just 12 runs.
At this stage it looked like a new record would be set for the lowest score by an entire team in one-day cricket.
However, due to resistance from the last batsmen, the Sri Lankan team completed its half-century.
9 players could not even reach double figures.
India chased down the target of 51 runs in just 37 balls to win the match by 10 wickets and become champions for the eighth time.
Indian bowler Mohammad Siraj took 6 wickets for just 10 runs and was declared the player of the match.
- 1984: India vs Sri Lanka (Win India)
- 1986: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan (Win Sri Lanka)
- 1988: India vs Sri Lanka (Win India)
- 1990: India vs Sri Lanka (Win India)
- 1995: India vs Sri Lanka (Win India)
- 1997: Sri Lanka vs India (Win Sri Lanka)
- 2000: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (Win Pakistan)
- 2004: Sri Lanka vs India (Win Sri Lanka)
- 2008: Sri Lanka vs India (Win Sri Lanka)
- 2010: India vs Sri Lanka (Win India)
- 2012: Pakistan vs Bangladesh (Win Sri Lanka)
- 2014: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan (Win Sri Lanka)
- 2016: India vs Bangladesh (Win India)
- 2018: India vs Bangladesh (Win India)
- 2022: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan (Win Sri Lanka)
- 2023: India vs Sri Lanka (Win India)
Defending champions India enter the tournament as favourites, while experts also consider Pakistan as favourites to win the title for the third time, after winning the tri-series played in the United Arab Emirates.
All matches start at 6:30 PM Pakistan time.
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