From 1984 to 2016, Nail-Biting Encounters in Asia Cup History
34 years ago, India lifted the trophy of the inaugural Asia Cup title in the city of Sharjah.
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In an attempt to foster close ties between the Asian countries, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) was established in 1983. The first tournament of Asia Cup was played the subsequent year in the city of Sharjah in UAE. 34 years ago, India lifted the trophy of the inaugural Asia Cup title.
The 2018 tournament will commence from 15 September, where India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and qualifiers champion Hong Kong will face each other to bag the coveted Asia Cup title.
As the cricket carnival is all set to commence in the Middle East, let us revisit the history of Asia Cup right from 1984 to 2016:
1984 – Maiden Asia Cup Held in UAE’s Sharjah
The first edition of the Asia Cup, called the Rothmans Asia Cup was a round-robin tournament held between 6 and 13 April at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. A total of three teams took part: India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The matches were held at the location of the newly-formed Asian Cricket Council where each team played the other three once each, and the top two teams qualified for a place in the final.
India won the inaugural cup by winning all three of its matches. Sri Lanka came in second while Pakistan lost both its matches.
1986 – 2nd Asia Cup Tournament Held in Sri Lanka
The 1986 Asia Cup, also known as the John Player Gold Leaf Trophy, was the second Asia Cup tournament held between 30 March and 6 April in Sri Lanka. Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were the three teams that took part in the tournament.
Defending champions India did not participate due to strained relationships with their southern neighbors Sri Lanka. Bangladesh, which had qualified by winning the 1984 South-East Asia Cup, had replaced India. Sri Lanka clinched the tournament by beating Pakistan in the final.
1988 – Bangladesh Host Wills Asia Cup
The third Asia Cup tournament was held in Bangladesh between 26 October and 4 November 1988. It was the nation’s first multi-national cricket tournament. Along with the host nation, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in the tournament.
India and Sri Lanka were the top two contenders for the third edition. India finally defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets to win its second Asia Cup.
1990-91 – India Host 4th Asia Cup
India hosted the fourth Asia Cup tournament in 1990-91 between 25 December 1990 and 4 January 1991. In this edition of the round-robin tournament, three teams took part: India, Sri Lanka and Asian leading associate member Bangladesh, after Pakistan withdrew participation due to strained political relations with India.
India and Sri Lanka qualified for the final in which the former beat its neighbour by 7 wickets to win its second consecutive Asia Cup.
1993 – 5th Edition Scheduled to be Held in Pak, Cancelled
The year 1993 would have been the fifth edition of the tournament scheduled to be held in Pakistan. However, due to severed ties between India and Pakistan, the tournament had to be cancelled.
1995 – Sharjah Back as Hosts of 5th Asia Cup
After a gap of 11 years, the fifth Asia Cup was hosted for the second time by the United Arab Emirates city of Sharjah. The tournament took place between 5 and 14 April 1995. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh took part in this edition of the tournament. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – all three teams were tied at four points at the end of the round-robin stage, while Bangladesh ended the group stage with no points.
However, India and Sri Lanka went through to the final as they had better run-rates than Pakistan. India went on to win its third straight, and fourth overall Asia Cup.
1997 – Sri Lanka Hosts Asia Cup For 2nd Time
Sri Lanka hosted the sixth edition of the Asia Cup, between 14 to 26 July 1997. Four teams took part in the tournament: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
India and Sri Lanka qualified for the final, while Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets to win its second Asia Cup, thereby ending India's winning streak.
2000 – Pakistan Clinch 7th Asia Cup Edition
The seventh edition called Pepsi Asia Cup was held in Bangladesh between May–June at Dhaka's Bangabandhu National Stadium. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh took part in the tournament.
After losing to Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the group stage, India failed to make it to the final. It was for the first time in the history of the tournament that India was participating, but didn’t qualify for the summit clash.
Pakistan eventually won the tournament after defeating Sri Lanka by 39 runs in the final.
2004 – Sri Lanka Host Eighth Edition
After a gap of nearly four years, the eighth edition of cricket's Asia Cup was held in Sri Lanka. The four Test playing Asian nations participated in the tournament. But this edition also saw UAE and Hong Kong making their debut appearances. Sri Lanka took the title home after defeating Sourav Ganguly-led India by 25 runs.
2008 – Pakistan Host Maiden Asia Cup
The 2008 Cricket Asia Cup took place in Pakistan in June 2008. Sri Lanka won the final against India by 100 runs.
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE and Hong Kong were the six teams that took part in the tournament.
Due to simmering tensions between Pakistan and India, the former had earlier been unable to host the event in 1993.
2010 – India Win 5th Asia Cup in Sri Lanka
The 2010 Asia Cup (also known as Micromax Asia Cup) was the tenth edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, held in Sri Lanka from 15 to 24 June 2010. Only the Test playing nations – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – took part in the series. India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs in the final to win a record 5th Asia Cup title. Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was declared the man of the tournament.
2012 – Pakistan Beat Bangladesh in Thrilling Final
The eleventh edition, sponsored by Micromax, was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 11 to 22 March 2012. The tournament featured the four Test-playing nations from Asia: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. For the first time in the history of the tournament, Bangladesh booked a spot in the final. Defending champions India and Bangladesh were tied at 8 points each after the group stages. However, MS Dhoni-led India had to head home despite a better net run-rate because they had lost to Bangladesh earlier in the tournament.
But Pakistan clinched their second Asia Cup after a thrilling final over, beating the opponent by 2 runs. Shakib Al Hasan took home the Player of the Tournament title.
2014 – Sri Lanka Defeats Pak to Become Champions for 5th Time
The twelfth edition was held in Dhaka and Fatullah, Bangladesh from 25 February to 8 March 2014. The tournament consisted of five teams with ICC Asian Associate member Afghanistan playing for the first time since the Cup’s inception in 1984.
India failed to reach the final after losing to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the group stages.
Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in the final to become Asia Cup champions for the fifth time. Lahiru Thirimanne was adjudged the Player of the Tournament after scoring 279 runs.
2016 – Asia Cup Played in T20I Format For 1st Time
The 2016 Asia Cup was the first edition to be played in the Twenty20 format. It was held in Bangladesh from 24 February to 6 March 2016. Micromax was the main sponsor of the tournament after 2012.
Along with hosts Bangladesh and defending champions Sri Lanka, the tournament included India, Pakistan, and ICC associate member the United Arab Emirates, who qualified from a qualifier played from 19 to 22 February 2016.
Unbeaten throughout the tournament, India beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the final to win their sixth Asia Cup title.
2018 – 14th Asia Cup Edition to be Held in UAE
The 2018 Asia Cup is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates, starting 15 September.
It will be the 14th edition of the Asia Cup and the third time that the tournament will be played in the United Arab Emirates, after the 1984 and 1995 tournaments.
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will take part in the tournament as the five full members of the Asian Cricket Council. In addition, the other participants will also be joined by Hong Kong.
The tournament, which was scheduled to be played in India, was moved to the United Arab Emirates, following political tensions between India and Pakistan.
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