Asia Cup is back in 2022 after four years and this time it will be played in the T20 format in Sri Lanka. Asia Cup will start on 27 August 2022. The tournament will be played between Asian nations and it will be a very important tournament for all the participating nations as it will act as a practice for the T20 world cup 2022. In this article, we will take a look at the history of this tournament and will also find interesting details about this cup.
Origin
The idea of the Asia Cup was introduced in 1983 by the Asian Cricket Council. Asia cup is the only continent-based tournament in cricket and the winner of this cup becomes the champion of Asia. It was started to promote cricket and to maintain healthy relations between Asian countries.
Till now 14 editions of the cup took place and in 2022 it will be the 15th edition. Before 2015 when the control of the tournament was with Asian Cricket Council it was played in ODI format but in 2015 ICC announced that the tournament will be played in T20 format also. It will depend on the format of the world cup of that particular year.
Also Read: Asia Cup winner & Runner-up List of all Season
The tournament consists of various controversies. In 1986 India refused to play in Asia Cup due to tensions with the Sri Lanka team and in 1990/91 Pakistan also refused to participate in Asia Cup due to political tensions with India.
Format and number of wins for each team
Every edition of the Asia Cup was played in a Round Robin format in which every participating team plays against each team in the tournament. It was decided that the cup will be held in a gap of two years but it did not happen accordingly. but from now on it is back after four years and the reason for the delay was the pandemic.
Teams are not fixed in the Asia cup as we have seen many new countries joining the cup. But some teams are consistent in the cup-like Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan. Talking about the cricket-playing nations these three nations are the only nations who are playing cricket from its starting.
India is the most successful team in the cup’s history. India has won 7 Asia Cups which is the most by any team. The second successful nation in the tournament is Sri Lanka as they have won the cup 5 times. Pakistan is third winning the cup twice.
Hosts and winners
Till now 5 teams have hosted the Asia cup including the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. UAE hosted the cup 3 times in 1984, 1995, and 2018. Sri Lanka hosted the cup 4 times and they will also host it in 2022. Bangladesh has hosted the cup the most number of times is 5 times. India hosted in 1990/91 and Pakistan hosted in 2008.
Team India won the cup for the most number of times 7 times. India is also the only country to win the first T20 format-based Asia Cup in 2016. They are also the defending champions in 2022 as they have won the 2018 Asia cup. Sri Lanka won the cup in 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, and 2014. Pakistan won in 2000 and 2012.
Debutants in each edition
In 1984 first edition of the cup was played and there were only 3 participants in first edition and they are India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
In 1986 it was Bangladesh made its debut in Asia Cup.
Then in 2004, it was the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong made their debut in Asia Cup.
The last debutant of the cup was Afghanistan which made its debut in the 2014 Asia cup.
