Asian Cricket Council was founded back in 1983 in order to maintain goodwill among all Asian countries. ACC decided to start Asia Cup to find the champion team among all Asian cricket-playing countries. Originally, Asia Cup was scheduled to be held every 2 years. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, it didn’t happen. The first Asia Cup was played in 1984 in the United Arab Emirates and since then, the world has witnessed 14 editions of this battle among Asian countries till 2018. The 15th edition of the Asia Cup was supposed to be held in 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 situation in the world, it got delayed and now It’s been scheduled to play in the month of August and September in 2022 in Sri Lanka. India has won 7 times out of 14 the tournament is held among all the nations. Here in this article, we will read about Asia Cup Winners List
Asia Cup Winner 1984 (India)
In 1983, the Asian Cricket Council was founded and the headquarter was based in Sharjah, UAE. It was the same place where a year later 1st edition of the Asia Cup was organized. All the matches were played in the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium. The tournament was played among three teams India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the winner was chosen by the Round Robin method. Each team played 2 matches. Pakistan ended up at the bottom with 2 losses and India won the tournament with 2 wins in 2 matches. Surinder Khanna was named the Player of the tournament.
Most Runs: Surinder Khanna (India – 107 runs)
Most Wickets: Ravi Shastri (India – 4 wickets)
1986 Asia Cup Final Scorecard (Sri Lanka)
2nd edition of the Asia Cup was organized in Sri Lanka in the month of March & April 1986. India pulled out of the tournament because of the strained cricket relationship with Sri Lanka due to a controversial series in the past. Along with Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh was included in the tournament which
qualified for the Asia Cup after winning South East Asia Cup in 1984. Pakistan won both the matches of the group stage while Sri Lanka won 1 match. In the final, Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets and won the 2nd edition of the Asia Cup. Arjuna Ranatunga was named the Player of the tournament.
Most Runs: Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka – 105 runs)
Most Wickets: Abdul Qadir (Pakistan – 9 wickets)
Asia Cup 1988 Winner (India)
The 3rd edition of the Asia Cup was organized in Bangladesh in the month of October and November in 1988. For the first time, four teams participated in the tournament including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In the league stage, all teams played 3 matches. Sri Lanka won all three matches and qualified for the final. India won 2 matches out of three and reached the finals. Pakistan and Bangladesh were knocked out of the tournament in the league stage. In the final, India defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets and won the Asia Cup title for the second time. Navjot Singh Sindhu was named the Player of the series.
Most Runs: Ijaz Ahmed (Pakistan – 192 runs)
Most Wickets: Arshad Ayub (India – 9 Wickets)
1990 Asia cup Winner (India)
The 4th edition of the Asia Cup tournament was held in India for the first time in the month of December 1990 and January 1991. Pakistan pulled out of the tournament because of the soured political relations with India. The tournament was played among three teams: India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Each team played 2 matches in the league stage and India and Sri Lanka qualified for the finals. Sri Lanka won both matches in the league stage whereas India won against Bangladesh to secure its berth in the final. In the finals, India retained Asia Cup by defeating Sri Lanka by 7 wickets.
Most Runs: Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka – 166 runs)
Most Wickets: Kapil Dev (India – 9 wickets)
why 1993 Asia cup cancelled
5th edition of the Asia Cup was supposed to be held in 1993. However, the tournament got cancelled due to the political relations between India and Pakistan.
1995 Asia cup Results (India)
The 5th edition of the Asia Cup was organized in Sharjah, UAE in the month of April. Four teams participated in the tournament including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In the league stage, each team played 3 matches and India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan won 2 matches each. However, India and Sri Lanka qualified for the final on the basis of the net run rate. In the final, India defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets and won another Asia Cup title consecutively for the 3rd time. Navjot Singh Sidhu was named the Player of the tournament.
Most Runs: Sachin Tendulkar (India – 205 runs)
Most Wickets: Anil Kumble (India- 7 wickets)
1997 Asia cup Final Scorecard (Sri Lanka)
The 6th edition of the Asia Cup tournament was organized in Sri Lanka in the month of July 1997. Similarly, as in the previous editions, four teams participated in the tournament including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. All teams played one match against each other. Sri Lanka won all the 3 matches and qualified- directly for the final. India and Pakistan had similar points but India raced into the finals on the basis of NRR. In the finals, Sri Lanka defeated India by 8 wickets and won the Asia Cup for the 2nd time. Arjuna Ranatunga was named the Player of the Tournament.
Most Runs: Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka – 272 runs)
Most Wickets: Venkatesh Prasad (India – 7 wickets)
A total of 6 editions of the Asia Cup were played in the 20th century till 1999. Out of these 6 editions, India won the tournament 4 times whereas Sri Lanka won the title 2 times. However, Another Asian heavyweight Pakistan was yet to won a tournament.
2000 Asia Cup Winners (Pakistan)
The 7th overall edition of the Asia Cup and the first tournament in the 21st century was organized in Bangladesh. Four teams including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were included in the tournament. Each team played the other team once in the league stage. Pakistan won all 3 matches and made it through the finals. Sri Lanka won 2 out of 3 matches to face Pakistan in the final. India lost 2 matches and was knocked out of the tournament. In the finals, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 39 runs to win the Asia Cup title for the first time in its history. Yousuf Youhana was named the Player of the Tournament.
Most Runs: Yousuf Youhana (Pakistan – 295 runs)
Most Wickets: Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan – 8 wickets)
2004 Asia Cup Winner (Sri Lanka)
The 8th edition of the Asia Cup was organized in Sri Lanka in the month of July 2004. For the first time in the history of the Asia Cup, a total of 6 teams participated in the tournament including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE and Hong Kong. The tournament was also divided into the 3 stages i.e. League Stage, the Super four and the final. 3 teams were put in each group and out of those two qualified for Super fours. India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh reached the Super fours. India and Sri Lanka reached the finals of the tournament and Sri Lanka defeated India
by 25 runs to win the 3rd Asia Cup title. Sanath Jayasuriya was named Player of the Tournament.
Most Runs: Shoaib Malik (Pakistan) – 316 runs)
Most Wickets: Irfan Pathan (India) – 14 wickets)
Asia Cup 2008 Winner (Sri Lanka)
The 9th edition of Asia Cup was organized in Pakistan. The format was kept similar to the previous edition of the tournament. 6 teams were included in the tournament. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India made it through the Super fours. India and Sri Lanka faced each other in the finals yet again. In the final, Sri Lanka defeated India by a big margin of 100 runs and won its 2nd consecutive Aisa Cup title. Ajantha Mendis was named the Player of the tournament.
Most Runs: Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka – 378 runs)
Most Wickets: Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka – 17 wickets)
2010 Asia Cup Scorecard (India)
The 10th edition of Asia Cup was organized in Sri Lanka in the month June 2010. All the matches were played as Day-night matches for the first time. Four teams were included in the tournament including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Each team faced the other once in the tournament. Sri Lanka reached the finals defeating all others in the match while India won 2 against Pakistan and Bangladesh. In the finals, India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs and won its 5th Asia Cup title. Shahid Afridi was named the Player of the tournament.
Most Runs: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan – 265 runs)
Most Wickets: Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka – 9 wickets)
Asia Cup Winner 2012 (Pakistan)
The 11th edition of Asia Cup was organized in Bangladesh in 2012. Four teams participated in the tournament and for the first time in the history of the Asia Cup, Bangladesh made it through the finals defeating India and Sri Lanka in the group stage. In the finals, Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by just 2 runs and won its 2nd Asia Cup title. Shakib Al Hasan was named Player of the Tournament.
Most Runs: Virat Kohli (India – 357 runs)
Most Wickets: Umar Gul (Pakistan – 9 wickets)
Asia cup 2014 cricket winner(Sri Lanka)
The 12th edition of the Asia Cup was held in Bangladesh in the month of February and March in 2014. For the first time, Afghanistan was also included in the tournament. All teams faced each other once. Sri Lanka won all 4 matches and reached the finals while Pakistan won 3 out of 4 matches and made it to the final showdown. In the finals, Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 5 wickets and won its 5th Asia Cup title. Lahiru Thirimanne was named the Player of the tournament.
Most Runs: Lahiru Thirimanne (Sri Lanka – 279 runs)
Most Wickets: Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan – 11 wickets)
Asia Cup 2016 Winner (India)
The 13th edition of the Asia Cup was held in Bangladesh in February and March of 2016. For the first time since the beginning of the Asia Cup, it was played in the T20I format. 5 teams were included in the tournament including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and UAE. India won all the matches in the group stage and reached the finals. Surprisingly, Bangladesh stunned Sri Lanka and Pakistan and made it through the finals. In the finals, India defeated Bangladesh by 8 wickets and won their 6th Asia Cup title. Sabbir Rahman was named the Player of the Tournament.
Most Runs: Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh – 176 runs)
Most Wickets: Al-Amin Hossain (Bangladesh – 11 wickets)
Asia Cup Winner 2018 (India)
The 14th edition of the Asia Cup was played in the ODI format as decided by ICC back in 2015. The tournament was organized in UAE which was previously scheduled to be organized in India. 6 teams participated in the tournament including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan reached the Super Fours where Bangladesh defeated Pakistan to qualify for the finals against India consecutively for the second time. In the finals, India defeated Bangladesh by 3 wickets and won its 7th Asia Cup title. Shikhar Dhawan was named Player of the Tournament.
Most Runs: Shikhar Dhawan (India – 342 runs)
Most Wickets: Kuldeep Yadav (India – 10 wickets)
Why Asia Cup 2020 postponed
The 15th edition of the Asia Cup was scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka. But due to the covid-19 situation in the world, it was postponed to 2022.
FAQs
1. Who won the first Asia Cup which was played in the T20I format?
In 2016, Asia Cup was played in the T20I format for the first time. India won the tournament defeating Bangladesh in the finals.
2. When did ACC decide to organize Asia Cup every 2 years?
In 2009, ACC decided to organize the tournament in every 2 years.
3. Why was Asia Cup 2020 cancelled?
Due to the rise in the covid-19 situation in the world, Asia Cup 2020 was cancelled and postponed to 2022.
4. Who won the maiden Asia Cup title?
India won the 1st edition of the Asia Cup held in 1984.
5. Who won the most Asia Cup titles in the 20th century?
India won the Asia Cup title four times in the 20th century. Out of these, India won 3 titles consecutively.
6. Why was Asia Cup 1993 was cancelled?
The tournament got cancelled due to the deteriorating political relations between India and Pakistan.
7. Who took the first Hat-trick in the Asia Cup tournament?
Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev took the first hat-trick of the tournament in 1990 in the final against Sri Lanka. Kapil Dev took a total of 9 wickets in the tournament.
