The ACC Asia Cup is an international men's One Day International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. It was originally scheduled to be held every two years. The first tournament was held in 1984 in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates where the council's offices were based (until 1995). The International Cricket Council has ruled that all games played for the Asia Cup have official One Day International status. India has won the tournament the most times (5). India appeared in every Cup apart from the 1986 (India pulled out due to strained cricketing relations with Sri Lanka), 1993 (when it was cancelled due to strained political relations between India and Pakistan). The ACC have announced that the tournament will be held biennially from 2008 onwards.Pakistan is the current champion after beating Bangladesh in the final of 2012 Asia Cup.
History
1984–1988 Asia Cup
The first edition of the Asia Cup was held in 1984 in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, the location of the headquarters of the newly formed Asian Cricket Council. The first match was Pakistan vs the new ICC member Sri Lanka. The tournament was a round-robin tournament among India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. India won this tournament with two victories.
Sri Lanka was the host for the second edition, in 1986; this was the first multi-national cricket series to be held there. India had pulled out of the tournament due to soured cricketing relations with Sri Lanka after a controversial series in Sri Lanka the previous year.[4] Bangladesh was included for the first time. Sri Lanka won the cup in the final beating Pakistan.
The third edition, 1988, was held in Bangladesh, the first time that a multi-national cricket tournament was held there. In the final, India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets and won their 2nd Asia Cup.
1990-97 Asia Cup
The fourth edition was held in India in 1990-91. Pakistan had pulled out of the tournament due to strained political relations with India. India retained its hold on the Cup defeating Sri Lanka in the final.
In 1993 the tournament was cancelled due to strained political relations between India and Pakistan.
The fifth edition, in 1995, took the series back to Sharjah after 11 years. India and Sri Lanka made it to the final by virtue of better run rate than Pakistan as all three teams had equal points after the preliminary round. For the third successive time in the Asia Cup, India defeated Sri Lanka in the final.
The sixth edition was held in Sri Lanka in 1997. Sri Lanka beat India in the final by 8 wickets to win its second Asia Cup and halt India's three consecutive cup victories.
2000–2014 Asia Cup
The seventh edition took place in Bangladesh for the second time in 2000. Pakistan and Sri Lanka made it to the final while India only won one match against Bangladesh and did not qualify for the final for the first time. In the final, Pakistan beat Sri Lanka and lifted the Asia Cup for the first time.
The eighth edition took place in Sri Lanka four years after the seventh edition in 2004. There was a change in the tournament format this time. Other Asian teams like UAE and Hong Kong were also included for the first time and the tournament was now divided into three stages – the group stage, the round-robinSuper Fours and the final. The group stage was divided into two groups of 3 teams, each playing each other once. The top two teams from each group qualified for the Super Four stage where they played each other again once. The top two teams in the Super Four stage will then qualify for the final. Hosts Sri Lanka, India and UAE were placed in Group A while then defending champion Pakistan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong were placed in Group B.
Sri Lanka and Pakistan, UAE and Hong Kong were knocked out in the group stage. Bangladesh had the distinction of reaching the second stage in a major tournament for the first time, but played poorly in the Super Fours and got eliminated. India and Sri Lanka topped the Super Four stage and reached the final. In the final, Sri Lanka defeated India by 25 runs to win the Asia Cup.
The ninth edition of the Asia Cup was held in Pakistan. Once again, the 2004 format was retained. The tournament started on 24 June 2008 and ended on 6 July 2008. Sri Lanka topped Group A and qualified for the second phase along with Bangladesh. In Group B, India came out on top and entered the Super Fours along with Pakistan in second place. Sri Lanka and India topped the Super Four stage and entered the final. Sri Lanka beat India in the final comfortably to equal India with four Asia Cup trophies. Sanath Jayasuriya smashed a quick 125 off 114 balls to rescue Sri Lanka from 66/4 earlier on when the top order collapsed. Sri Lanka's new mystery spinner, Ajantha Mendis, grabbed figures of 6/13 that left India in tatters.
The tenth edition was held in Sri Lanka, which hosted the Asia Cup for the fourth time, between 15–24 June 2010. It only featured the four Test playing Asian nations, and seven matches were played in all (including the final). Sri Lanka and India topped the group stages and entered the final. In the final, India beat Sri Lanka comfortably to become Asia Cup champions for a record fifth time, but the first time in 15 years.
The eleventh edition of Asia Cup was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 11 to 22 March 2012. This was confirmed by the Asian Cricket Council on 15 December 2011. Pakistan and Bangladesh qualified to play in the final, Bangladesh had beaten India and Sri Lanka to book its place in the final for the first time in the history of the tournament. Pakistan beat Bangladesh narrowly by two runs after a thrilling final over. Misbah-ul-Haq is the second Asia cup victorious captain in the history of Pakistan cricket after Moin Khan. This was the second time Pakistan won the Asia Cup.
