Asia cup is one highly prestigious tournament in Asia where cricket is considered one of the favorite sports. The cricketers are worshipped as gods and every four years the Asian teams compete against each other to be crowned and get the begging right of being called the champions of Asia.
The tournament had its beginning in 1984 and there have been 14 tournaments that have been played out till now. Initially starting with only three countries India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, this competition has grown to incorporate more teams in the continent. In this article, we will be looking at all the Asia cup cricket winners list between 1984 and 2022.
Contents
Asia Cup 1984
The Asia cup started in 1984 with the three biggest teams in the Indian subcontinent who played out two games each in a round-robin fashion. The competition was held in Sharjah UAE and India managed to win the competition with two victories and registered themselves as the first members of the Asia cup cricket winners list. Sri Lanka won their game against Pakistan but the latter came out with no win in the series to their name.
Asia Cup 1986
The tournament was held in Sri Lanka they managed to go ahead and win the competition on their home soil after beating Pakistan in the finals, therefore were the second team on the Asia cup cricket winners list. Bangladesh was included in the series for the first time. India was absent in this tournament due to controversial series in Sri Lanka the year before.
Asia Cup 1988
The third edition of the tournament was held in Bangladesh and India emerged as the victors of the tournament after defeating Sri Lanka in the finals and registering themselves yet again in the Asia cup cricket winners list. This year the Asia cup was played between four nations for the first time since its inauguration. Sri Lanka had beaten all teams in the round-robin stage including India but India went on to have the final say after beating Sri Lanka in the finals.
Asia Cup 1990-91
The fourth edition of the cup was held in India but Pakistan pulled out of the tournament due to political tensions between the two nations. India went ahead and won the competition after beating Sri Lanka yet again in the finals. This was India's second consecutive Asia Cup victory.
Asia Cup 1995
Asia Cup in its fifth edition again saw India and Sri Lanka battling out for the trophy and India winning it for the third time in a row. The tournament was held in Bangladesh and after the round-robin stage Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India were on four points but due to a better run rate, Sri Lanka and India played the finals.
Asia Cup 1997
The sixth edition was held in Sri Lanka and the hosts won their second title at home beating India in the finals and managed to enter in Asia cup cricket winners list. This also ended India's three consecutive winning campaigns at the Asia Cup. Pakistan again missed out on the finals due to an inferior run rate than India despite having the same number of points.
Asia Cup 2000
The turn of the century saw the cup being hosted in Bangladesh again. Pakistan emerged as the winner for the first time and entered the Asia cup cricket winners list beating Sri Lanka by 39 runs. They had a flawless campaign winning all the matches in the tournament.
Asia Cup 2004
This was the first Asia Cup held after four years. Two Asian associate nations namely UAE and Hong Kong joined the tournament and the tournament saw six teams challenging for the title. The format of the tournament was also changed with teams now put in two groups of three each and Super fours were played between the winners and runner-ups of each group. The tournament was held in Sri Lanka which managed to win for the third time on their home soil. Sri Lanka beat India in the final to win the competition.
Asia Cup 2008
The next edition of the Asia Cup was held in Pakistan for the first time since its inception. It was supposed to take place in 2006 but due to the busy International Schedule, it was postponed to 2008. Six teams participated in this tournament again like last time and Sri Lanka came out to be the eventual winners, beating India by 100 runs in the final. The tournament format was the same as the 2004 Asia Cup. This was Sri Lanka's second victory on the trot and first tournament win held outside Sri Lanka. The tournament saw thirteen games being played out in two cities in Pakistan.
Asia Cup 2010
Asia Cup returned just two years later in 2010 and India ended Sri Lanka's hopes of winning three consecutive Asia Cups. This year only four teams participated in the tournament and the finals were played between India and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka hosted the tournament but this is the first time they did not go ahead and win this competition hosted on home soil. India was finally able to end the drought of over 10 years by winning the competition.
Asia Cup 2012
The eleventh edition of the Asia cup was once again held in Bangladesh. Only four teams participated in the tournament. Bangladesh had a very amusing campaign and they beat India and Sri Lanka to book a place in the final against Pakistan. Pakistan went on to win the competition but only by two runs. This was a reflection of how far Bangladesh has come concerning its cricketing strength.
Asia Cup 2014
The twelfth edition of the tournament saw five teams competing for the title the fifth one being Afghanistan. This was the first time the Afghans were taking part in a 50-over tournament. The tournament was held in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka emerged on the Asia cup cricket winners list for the fifth time. Bangladesh who did well in the previous tournament was not able to pick up any win in the competition not even against newbies Afghanistan.
Asia Cup 2016
Bangladesh hosted the thirteenth and third consecutive Asia cup. This was the first time it was being played in a T20 format. ICC decided that the tournament will be played out on a rotation basis in ODI and T20I formats. The tournament was played with five teams the fifth among them is UAE which replaced Afghanistan in the previous tournament. India won the competition after beating Bangladesh by 8 wickets and they won all of the games they played in the competition.
Asia Cup 2018
The competition was supposed to be held in India but due to the tensions between India and Pakistan, it was shifted to UAE. Six teams participated in the tournament with the addition of Hong Kong from the previous tournament. India went on to defend the title and emerged champions once again after beating Bangladesh in the finals.
Asia Cup 2022
picture cc: Twitter/@OfficialSLC
The latest edition of the Asia Cup was held in 2022 in UAE. It was scheduled to be held in 2020 but due to the pandemic, it was postponed. The straight winner of the tournament stood out to be none other than Sri Lanka who won the Asia Cup by beating Pakistan by 23 runs in the thrilling final. The top-scorer “Bhanuka Rajapaksa” for Sri Lanka scored 71 not out 45 off balls. Sri Lanka was the favorites to win the Asia Cup.
Conclusion
India is the most successful team in the Asia cup with 7 titles to their name and is the defending champion. Sri Lanka comes second in the list with six trophies to their name. Bangladesh will be eyeing its first Asia cup title after being in the finals in the previous two tournaments. It is always exciting tournament to watch out for as teams fight out to register their name on the Asia cup cricket winners list.
