India is the most successful team in the history of the Asia Cup winning 7 times. India is also the winner of the inaugural Asia Cup in 1984. India is the winner of the last ODI edition of the Asia Cup in 2018 and is set for glory again as the 16th Asia Cup begins on 30 August. It will be the 14th edition where the matches will be played in the ODI format. Let’s take a look at the history of men in blue in the battle of the Asian Giants.

The first edition of the Asia Cup was played as a triangular series with only 3 games. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka played each other once at Sharjah. India won the tournament by winning both games. Sunil Gavaskar was the India captain. India played their first encounter against Sri Lanka and dismissed their rivals for just 96, getting to the winning total inside 22 overs.

The second game was against the arch-rivals Pakistan. Surinder Khanna scored 2nd consecutive half-century to help post 188/4 in a 46-overs reduced fixture which proved as the winning total. India won both their games and won the first-ever trophy.

Player of the tournament: Surinder Khanna (India)

India did not participate in the 1986 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka because of political reasons. The 1988 Asia Cup was the first occasion when four teams contested. (Bangladesh were invited to play the previous edition in the absence of India).

Dilip Vengsarkar was appointed the skipper of a young Indian squad which also had Kapil Dev in their lineup. Navjot Singh Sidhu hit fine half-centuries in the first two games as India first beat Bangladesh but went down against Sri Lanka in the 2nd match. Off-spinner Arshad Ayub was the star against Pakistan as he backed Kapil Dev’s fiery opening spell with a five-wicket haul to contain the neighbouring nation to 142. Mohinder Amarnath’s unbeaten half century ensured India won by 4 wickets and finished second on the points table to qualify for the final to be played against Sri Lanka. Fine fifties from Sidhu and skipper Vengsarkar took India to their 2nd Asia Cup title. Sidhu finished the series as the 2nd highest run scorer (179) with Arshad Ayub being the highest wicket-taker with 9 scalps, Kapil Dev picked up 6 wickets.

Player of the tournament: Navjot Singh Sidhu (India)

The Asia Cup was back being a triangular tournament as Pakistan pulled out from the fourth edition due to their strained relations with India. The teams didn’t tour each other until 1997 again. The 1990 edition was played in India. A couple of stars who would dominate the tournament for the next 20 years put their feet on for the first time as Sachin Tendulkar from India and Sanath Jayasuriya from Sri Lanka had their first taste of the Asia Cup in this edition. India won their first game easily against Bangladesh but lost to Sri Lanka which they met in the final once again. A Kapil Dev hat trick ensured India needed 205 to win and they did so easily with unbeaten half-centuries from Sanjay Manjrekar, Mohammad Azharuddin and 53 from Tendulkar to win their third title. Kapil finished as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 9 wickets in three matches, Sidhu scored 144 and Manjrekar 112 in the tournament.

Player of the tournament: Not awarded

The 1997 Asia Cup was played in Colombo with all teams playing each other once. Sri Lanka won all their 3 games to qualify for yet another final. India has Pakistan in all spots of bother as Venkatesh Prasad bowled a fiery opening spell of 4/17 in 5 overs bringing the total to 30/5 in nine overs but inclement weather meant the match was rescheduled for another date but still wasn’t played as rain washed it out. India and Pakistan again tied on the points table but superior run rate meant India were to qualify for the final again. Captain Azharuddin and Tendulkar scored half-centuries to deposit 239/7 on board but it wasn’t enough this time as Sri Lanka chased the total down with 79 balls remaining to win their second title at home. Prasad ended as the leading wicket-taker with 7 scalps to his name.

Player of the tournament: Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka)

The seventh Asia Cup was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. India got to a good start beating the hosts by 8 wickets on the back of newly appointed skipper Sourav Ganguly’s unbeaten ton. A century from Jayasuriya’s bat in the next game and a wonderful bowling effort from the Sri Lanka handed a defeat to India in their second outing as they failed to chase 277 despite Tendulkar’s 93. Pakistan defeated India in the next game as Yousuf Youhana’s hit a century. Pakistan put a tough 296 to win in 48 overs for India. Ajay Jadeja in his final international appearance held the fort with 93, being the last man out but there was no support from the other end as Abdul Razzaq (4/29) ran through the Indian lineup to register their names against Sri Lanka in the final which they easily won.

Player of the tournament: Yousuf Youhana (Pakistan)

The six teams returned four years later as Pakistan hosted the ninth Asia Cup. The men-in-blue were led by MS Dhoni and won both games defeating Hong Kong by 256 runs and then Pakistan by 6 wickets. Suresh Raina’s bat spoke again in the Super 4 clash against Bangladesh smashing his 2nd ODI ton to help the team chase 284. In the next game against Pakistan, 308 runs weren’t enough for the men in blue as Pak cruised to the total on the back of Younis Khan’s century. India defeated Sri Lanka in another high-scoring encounter chasing 309 and booked the ticket for another final against them. Young Ishant Sharma picked up 3 wickets in the finals to dismiss Sri Lanka for 273 but the mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis bowled his heart out with a spell of 6 for 13 in 8 overs to dismiss India for a paltry 173. Raina (372), Sehwag (348) and Dhoni (327) scored over 300 runs for India.

Player of the tournament: Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka)
 

China was interested to host the 2012 Asia Cup in Guangzhou. But eventually, Bangladesh hosted the Asia Cup for the third time with four teams participating. India won the first encounter against Sri Lanka. Virat Kohli scored a ton with Irfan Pathan complementing it with a four-wicket haul. Sachin Tendulkar scored his 100th ODI ton against Bangladesh in the next game but India lost. Another high-scoring encounter followed against Pakistan as India were set 330 to win. Kohli’s highest ODI score till date (183) made it look easy with handy contributions from Rohit Sharma (68) and Tendulkar (52) as India got home with 13 balls and six wickets to spare. Though India and Bangladesh finished with 8 points, Bangladesh qualified for the final as they had defeated India in the league stage.

Player of the tournament: Shakib Al Hasan

Virat Kohli was appointed as Team India skipper after MS Dhoni was ruled out due to injury. India played their first game against hosts Bangladesh. Kohli scored 136 adding 213 runs with Ajinkya Rahane (73) to take the team to win. Ajantha Mendis picked up 4 wickets and Kumar Sangakkara scored a ton to snatch victory from India’s hands in their next game. Pakistan also snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as senior pro Shahid Afridi kept his nerve. Requiring 10 runs off 5 balls with just one wicket in hand, Afridi launched R Ashwin for a couple of sixes to take Pak to a famous win. An eight-wicket win over Afghanistan wasn’t enough for the men in blue to qualify for the finals.

Player of the tournament: Lahiru Thirimanne (Sri Lanka)

2016 Asia Cup was the first ever Asia Cup to be played in the T20 format to help the teams prepare for the upcoming World T20. India opened their account defeating Bangladesh easily and went past Pakistan thanks to Kohli’s calm 49 after Mohammad Amir’s spell had the top order in totters. Earlier Hardik Pandya picked up 3 wickets to dismiss Pak for 83. India won the game by 5 wickets. Kohli and Pandya continued their good form with bat and ball respectively against Sri Lanka and then defeated UAE to win all four games and advancing to the finals where they beat Bangladesh in an exciting rain-hit fixture. Kohli scored 153 runs in the tournament with Pandya taking 7 wickets. Jasprit Bumrah was another revelation taking six wickets at an economy of 5.22.

Player of the tournament: Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh)
 

Asia Cup returned to UAE also switching back to the ODI tournament as it was decided that the biennial event will switch formats every other edition. India had Hong Kong and Pakistan in their group and defeated them by 26 runs and 8 wickets respectively. India continued its good performance in the super 4 stage defeating Bangladesh and Pakistan by seven and nine wickets respectively but tied the game against Afghanistan. It is the only tied fixture in the history of the Asia Cup. Bangladesh made it to the finals yet again but went down against India by 3 wickets. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma topped the run-scoring charts with Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja etching their name in the top wicket-takers list.

Player of the tournament: Shikhar Dhawan (India)

The latest edition of the Asia cup was played in the T20 format and was special for former skipper Kohli as he became the first Indian to play 100 games in all three international formats and became the fourth Indian to score a century in all three formats of the game as well. But the tournament wasn’t successful for India. They eased into the super four defeating Hong Kong and Pakistan but the arch-rivals made a comeback in the super 4 defeating India by 5 wickets. Another upset was on the cards as Sri Lanka put India down by 6 wickets as the men in blue crashed out of the tournament despite a big win against Afghanistan. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker having 11 scalps to his name.

Player of the tournament: Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka)

The 2023 Asia Cup will be held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka beginning on August 30. Six teams will take part in the 50-over format. India has a good and settled ODI side with a mix of youth and experience. They have performed well in recent times and in an all-important World Cup year, the focus needs to be on winning multi-nation tournaments.