Asia Cup is a tournament that is very close to the people of the Asian full member country after the prestigious Cricket World Cup. It commenced 39 years down the road in 1984 after the formation of the Asian Cricket Council in 1983 and so far 15 editions have been completed with the 16th edition around the corner and is set to be played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from 31st August to 17th September. India has been the most successful team in Asia Cup history with 7 titles, followed by Sri Lanka with 6 trophies. Including the T20 format triumph in 2022 in UAE. On the other hand, Pakistan has only 2 titles to its name, and Bangladesh is yet to hold the silverware.
1984 Asia Cup Winner
The winner of the maiden Asia Cup in 1984 was India. ACC hosted the event in UAE, with only India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh taking part. Only 3 matches were played and India won both games to clinch the title. Indian batter Surinder Khanna was the highest run-getter with 107 runs and in bowling, Ravi Shastri tops the chart with 4 wickets. Notably, Sunil Gavaskar became the first cricket captain to win the Asia Cup trophy.
1986 Asia Cup Winner
The first-edition runners-up, Sri Lanka etched its name on the Asia Cup winners list in 1986. This time along with Pakistan and host Sri Lanka, Bangladesh also participated in the tournament. Whereas India did not play due to bad relations with the hosts. After playing two matches each, Sri Lanka and Pakistan met each other in the final in Colombo, and as a result, the Blue Lions beat the Men in Green in a low-scoring thriller by 5 wickets. Lankan skipper, Arjuna Ranatunga led his team from the front and became the highest run-scorer with 105 runs while Pakistani leggie Abdul Qadir bagged the most wickets in the series (9).
1988 Asia Cup Winner
The 1988 Asia Cup was held in Bangladesh for the first time. Four teams India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh clashed with each other once in 6 matches, and eventually, India locked horns with Sri Lanka for the 2nd time in the final of the competition in Dhaka and again thumped them by 6 wickets to become Asia Cup winner for the 2nd time. Pakistani batter Ijaz Ahmed made the most runs (192) and Indian spin master Arshad Ayub took the most wickets (9) in the season.
1990-91 Asia Cup Winner
The 1990-91 Asia Cup, which was the 4th installment of the competition saw host India lifting the coveted Asia Cup trophy for the 3rd time beating Sri Lanka in the finals by 7 wickets. This time Pakistan did not participate because of its harsh bond with India. However, Arjuna Ranatunga who top-scored for Sri Lanka in the final with 49 runs finished as the highest run-getter with 166 runs and Kapil Dev was the pick of the bowler in the tournament with 9 scalps in 3 games, including 4/31 in the finals.
1995 Asia Cup Winner
For the first time since 1984, the 5th Asia Cup was played in Sharjah in 1995. Following the round-robin format, all 7 matches were completed. The much anticipated final was once more contested by India and Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, for the 3rd time in a row Lanka lost the final by 8 wickets and India wrote its name for the 5th time on the Asia Cup winners chart. Indian players were conquering the stats chart with Sachin Tendulkar being the highest-scorer and Anil Kumble claiming the most wickets.
1997 Asia Cup Winner
Sri Lanka organized the Asia Cup for the 2nd time in 1997. The other contenders in the 6th edition were India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Finally, Sri Lanka avenged their loss in the last three finals against India, hammering them by 8 wickets in Colombo. Skipper Arjuna Ranatunga led the most runs chart for the 3rd time with 272 runs while Indian seamer Venkatesh Prasad was the highest wicket-taker with 7 wickets.
2000 Asia Cup Winner
The 7th edition of the Asia Cup was held in Bangladesh and Pakistan ended their trophy drought when they defeated the defending champions Sri Lanka by 39 runs in Dhaka and became the new Asia Cup winner. India had 1 win out of 3 and Bangladesh even failed to register a victory in the championship. The record for most runs and wickets was clutched by Pakistani batter Yousuf Yohana (295) and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq (8) respectively.
2004 Asia Cup Winner
In 2004, two new teams Hongkong and UAE were added along with existing teams India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Three teams were divided into 2 groups while the top two teams made it into the Super 4 to play three matches each and eventually, Sri Lanka crushed India by 25 runs to win their 3rd Asia Cup title. Swashbuckling Pakistani batter Shoaib Malik recorded the most runs in the edition with 316 runs and among bowlers, Indian “Swing King” Irfan Pathan grabbed the most wickets (14).
2008 Asia Cup Winner
Pakistan alone hosted the 2008 Asia Cup for the maiden time. The six participants were the same as the last time. Notwithstanding, Sri Lankan batter Sanath Jayasuriya and mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis were on a roll in the competition as Jayasuriya scored the most runs in a single Asia Cup, getting 378 runs, while Mendis snared record-breaking 17 wickets, the most in an edition. Hence, Sri Lanka overshadowed India in every department to win the match by 100 runs in the final in Karachi and clinch their 4th Asia Cup title.
2010 Asia Cup Winner
The 2010 Asia Cup was held in Sri Lanka from the 15th to the 24th of June in Dambulla. In this installment, apart from the hosts, the other three teams were India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In the finals, India faced Lanka for the 8th Asia Cup final and emerged victorious by 81 runs. Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi made the most runs (265) and veteran Lasith Malinga was the pick of the bowlers with 9 wickets in the event.
2012 Asia Cup Winner
2012 Asia Cup, the 11th session was hosted by Bangladesh in Sher-E-Bangla stadium. Like the previous edition, this time too it was a battle among India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. After continuous failures for the past 3 editions, Pakistan turned the table in their favor and won the final against first-time finalist Bangladesh by a narrow margin of 2 runs. India’s top-order batter Virat Kohli was the top scorer with the bat, amassing whooping 365 runs, on the contrary, Umar Gul conquered the bowling chart with 9 wickets in the championship.
2014 Asia Cup Winner
In 2014, Afghanistan participated in the Asia Cup for the first time alongside India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, Retaining their places in the top 2 after playing 4 matches each, Sri Lanka and Pakistan battled for the crown in the finals at Bangladesh’s best Sher-E-Bangla stadium where Sri Lanka lifted its 5th title, beating Pakistan by 5 wickets. The Man of the Final Lahiru Thirimanne mustered the most 279 runs in the event and in bowling, Lasith Malinga and Saeed Ajmal bagged the most wickets, 9 scalps each.
2016 Asia Cup Winner
The 2016 Asia Cup was the inaugural edition of the event in T20 format. 5 teams took part in the championship- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE, and the host Bangladesh. India won all their group games and smashed the hosts in the final 8 wickets and 7 balls to spare. Bangladeshi batter Sabbir Rahman aggregated the highest number of runs (176) and pacer Al Amin became the highest wicket-taker in the tournament (11).
2018 Asia Cup Winner
India made itself the 2018 Asia Cup winner in the UAE, winning the final against Bangladesh by 3 wickets under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. Six teams- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Hongkong were split into 2 groups. Then, India and Pakistan qualified for the Semi-finals from Group A, while Afghanistan and Bangladesh got there from Group B. Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was the highest run-getter with 342, and on the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav, Rashid Khan, and Mustafizur Rahman were the joint highest wicket-taker with 10 wickets.
2022 Asia Cup Winner
The 2022 Asia Cup was the 2nd edition in the T20 format, hosted by the UAE. The same 6 teams as the past edition contested there. Pakistan and Sri Lanka played the grand final at the Dubai International Stadium wherein Sri Lanka thumped Pakistan by 23 runs to get their 6th title and 1st in the shortest format. In form Pakistani wicket-keeper batter Mohammed Rizwan finished with the highest runs (281), while Indian seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar bagged the most 11 wickets in the instalment.
2023 Asia Cup Winner
India is the winner of Asia Cup 2023 final beating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets. Md. Siraj is the hero of the match by taking 6 wickets.
List of The Asia Cup Winners
| Year | Host | Winner | Runners Up | Winning Captain |
| 1984 | UAE | India | Sri Lanka | Sunil Gavaskar |
| 1986 | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Duleep Mendis |
| 1988 | Bangladesh | India | Sri Lanka | Dilip Vengsarkar |
| 1990 | India | India | Sri Lanka | Mohammad Azharuddin |
| 1995 | UAE | India | Sri Lanka | Mohammad Azharuddin |
| 1997 | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | India | Arjuna Ranatunga |
| 2000 | Bangladesh | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Moin Khan |
| 2004 | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | India | Marvan Atapattu |
| 2008 | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | India | Mahela Jayawardene |
| 2010 | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka | MS Dhoni |
| 2012 | Bangladesh | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Misbah Ul Haq |
| 2014 | Bangladesh | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Angelo Matthews |
| 2016 | Bangladesh | India | Bangladesh | MS Dhoni |
| 2018 | UAE | India | Bangladesh | Rohit Sharma |
| 2022 | UAE | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Dasun Sanaka |
| 2023 | Pakistan & Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka | Rohit Sharma |
India won the first Asia Cup in 1984.
India won the Asia Cup in 2023.
India has won the most Asia Cup titles (7).
Senior Cricket Content Editor at Skyblogs Cricket.
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