The Asian Cricket Council’s Asia Cup is an event, played between Asian Teams. Initially, the tournament was played in 50 over format, however later on in the years when T20 World Cup had to be played, the Asia Cup would be played in the 20-over format. Following is a brief history of winners of the Asia Cup over the years.
As Asian cricket teams are the powerhouse in world cricket and three of them had won the ICC cricket world cups both T20 and 50 over so cricket is one of the most fascinating things for fans in Asia.
Asia Cup Winners List
The Indian Cricket Team is the most successful team in Asia Cup’s history. India has won the event 7 times. Six times they have won in the ODI format, while once they won it in the T20 format.
Edition | Year | Format | Winner | Runner-up | Venue |
1st | 1984 | 50 Overs | India | Sri Lanka | UAE |
2nd | 1986 | 50 Overs | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
3rd | 1988 | 50 Overs | India | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh |
4th | 1990-91 | 50 Overs | India | Sri Lanka | India |
5th | 1995 | 50 Overs | India | Sri Lanka | UAE |
6th | 1997 | 50 Overs | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka |
7th | 2000 | 50 Overs | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh |
8th | 2004 | 50 Overs | Sri Lanka | India | Sri Lanka |
9th | 2008 | 50 Overs | Sri Lanka | India | Pakistan |
10th | 2010 | 50 Overs | India | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka |
11th | 2012 | 50 Overs | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Bangladesh |
12th | 2014 | 50 Overs | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Bangladesh |
13th | 2016 | T20 | India | Bangladesh | Bangladesh |
14th | 2018 | 50 Overs | India | Bangladesh | UAE |
Asia Cup 1984
India was the inaugural champion of the Asia Cup in 1984. Surinder Khanna was the top run-getter for India and was named Man of the tournament. Ravi Shastri was the highest Wicket Taker in the event. India defeated Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup 1984.
Asia Cup 1986
Sri Lanka is the 2nd most successful team in Asia Cup history with 5 title wins. Sri Lanka won their first title in 1986 and took revenge for its loss in the 1st edition of the Asia cup. This was the 2nd Asia Cup tournament and only 3 teams; Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan took part in it. India boycotted due to political tensions. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in the final of the event by 5 wickets. Despite losing, Javed Miandad was named Man of the Match of the final for scoring 67. While for his all-round performance, scoring 105 runs and taking 4 wickets, Sri Lanka’s Arjuna Ranatunga was named Man of the Tournament of the event.
Asia Cup 1988
In 1988 India won the Asia Cup again. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh took part in the event that was held in Bangladesh. Sri Lanka once again ended up as runners-up of the event, as India defeated them in the final by 6 wickets. Ijaz Ahmed of Pakistan was the best batsman of the event, while Arshad Ayub of India was the highest wicket-taker. Navjot Singh Siddhu was named Man of the tournament of event for scoring 179 runs in the tournament.
Asia Cup 1990
In the next edition of the Asia Cup, in 1990 India became the first team to successfully retain their Asia Cup trophy. India defeated Sri Lanka by the same margin of 7 wickets in the final to claim their 3rd Asia Cup title. Kapil Dev was the highest wicket-taker of the event with 9 wickets, while Arjuna Ranatunga of Sri Lanka was the best batsman with 166 runs.
Asia Cup 1995
The story remained the same in 1995 when India once again defeated Sri Lanka in the final of Asia Cup and won their 3rd consecutive title. India chased the target of 231 with 8 wickets in hand. Sachin Tendulkar scored the most runs in this Asia Cup, while Anil Kumble was the leading wicket-taker. Navjot Singh Siddhu was once again named Man of the tournament for his impactful performances.
Asia Cup 1997
After 11 years, in 1997 Sri Lanka managed to win their 2nd Asia Cup title. India was the runner-up of the event, as Sri Lanka crushed them in the final by a comprehensive margin of 8 wickets. For scoring an unbeaten 84 runs, Marvan Atapattu was named MOTM in the final, while MOTT was Arjuna Ranatunga for scoring 272 runs.
Asia Cup 2000
After India and Sri Lanka, Pakistan is the only side to get their hands on Asia Cup. They won the first Asia Cup title in 2000 when the tournament was played in Bangladesh. Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the final by 39 runs. Moin Khan was named Man of the Match in the final for scoring 56(31)*. Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf was named Man of the Tournament for scoring 295 runs in the event.
Asia Cup 2004
Sri Lanka once again defeated India in the final of Asia Cup in 2004. This was Sri Lanka’s third title win, and 2nd at home. Sri Lanka won the final by 25 runs, courtesy of some brilliant bowling to defend a low total of 228. Marvan Atapattu once again emerged as MOTM in the final. Sanath Jayasuriya was named Player of the tournament for scoring 293 runs and picking up 4 wickets.
Asia Cup 2008
The 2008 Asia Cup was played at a new venue. This was the first time Pakistan hosted the event. Sri Lanka defeated India by a huge margin of 100 runs to win their 4th title. The star of the final was Ajantha Mendis who took 6/13 and was awarded MOTM. Mendis was also named player of the tournament for picking 17 wickets. Mendis became the first player to be awarded MOTM in the final and also be named as player of the tournament in Asia Cup history.
Asia Cup 2010
After a gap of 15 years, India once again got their hands on the Asia Cup trophy. In 2010, India managed to win their 5th Asia Cup by defeating the host Sri Lanka. India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs in the final. Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi was named Man of the Tournament for scoring 265 runs while Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga was the best bowler of the event with 9 wickets. For India, Dinesh Karthik was the man of the Match in the final for scoring 65 runs.
Asia Cup 2012
After 12 years, Pakistan regained the Asia Cup trophy once again in Bangladesh. This was by far the closest and shortest margin of victory in an Asia Cup final in terms of runs remaining. Pakistan won by just 2 runs, winning their 2nd Asia Cup. Shahid Afridi was named Man of the Match in the final for his all-round performance, while Bangladeshi Shakib Al Hasan was named Man of the Tournament for scoring 237 runs and taking 6 wickets.
Asia Cup 2014
2014 was the last year when Sri Lanka was seen as champions of the Asia Cup. The event was played in Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in the final by 5 wickets. For his 5/56 in the final, Lasith Malinga was awarded MOTM. While LahiruT hrimmane was player of the tournament with 279 runs in the event.
Asia Cup 2016
The 2016 Asia Cup was the first T20I format Asia Cup and it was won by India. This is till date the only T20I format Asia Cup. The final was reduced to 15 overs due to rain in Mirpur. India defeated Bangladesh by 8 wickets to lift their 6th Asia Cup. Sabbir Rehman for scoring 176 runs, was named Man of the Tournament while Shikhar Dhawan was Man of the Match in the final of the event for scoring 60 runs.
Asia Cup 2018
India’s latest and 7th Asia Cup title win was in 2018. Bangladesh was once again defeated by India in the final, this time by 3 wickets only. Despite losing, Litton Das was named Man of the Match of the final for his brilliant hundred. Shikhar Dhawan was named the Man of the Tournament for his consistency, scoring 342 runs. India won their 7th Asia Cup, the most by any team.
Asia Cup 2022
Asia Cup 2022 will begin from 27th August 2022. The event will be played amongst six teams. Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are placed in one group while the other group consists of Pakistan, India and a qualifying team from the qualifiers. This will be the 2nd team in Asia Cup history that it will be played in T20I Format. Lets who win it this time.