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The Asia Cup, officially known as the ACC Men's Asia Cup, is one of the most important chapters of cricket, which is contested between Asian Countries. There is an embraceable history of Asia Cup winners; the first edition of Rothman's Asia Cup was held in 1984, and after that, it continued every two years according to the scheduled plan. There have been a lot of changes in the format and teams, but what has not changed in all these years is the excitement of watching the matches. The Asia Cup 2023 is happening now, hosted by Sri Lanka and Pakistan, between six countries, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Before we wait for the champions of 2022, let's check out the past winners of the Asia Cup and their historical summary.
The first edition of the Asia Cup was held between India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan; matches were held in Sharjah, UAE. Three matches were held, out of which India won two matches and came up with the winning trophy. This edition followed a round-robin format. Surinder Khanna was announced as the Player of the Series, and he was the only player with the most runs in this tournament. Ravi Shastri was the highest wicket-taker in this inaugural edition of the Asia Cup. This Asia Cup will remain immortal in the history of Indian cricket.
The second edition of the Asia Cup was hosted by Sri Lanka, and India didn't participate in this tournament because of strained relations with the host country. Three countries, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, participated in this tournament; matches were held in a round-robin format, and Pakistan won both of its matches and made it to the finals. In the final match, Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan and won their first Asia Cup. Arjun Ranatunga was the Player of the Series, and he was the batsman with the maximum number of runs, whereas Abdul Qadir was the most prolific wicket-taker of the tournament.
The third edition of the Asia Cup was hosted by Bangladesh, and four teams participated in this match, including India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh itself. This tournament was played in a round-robin format, where the top two teams qualified for the finals. India and Sri Lanka played in the finals, and India defeated Sri Lanka to win the tournament. Navjot Siddhu was announced as the Player of the Series, followed by Ijaz Ahmed with the maximum number of runs, whereas Arshad Ayub was the wicket-taker of the tournament.
The fourth edition of the Asia Cup was hosted by India, where Sri Lanka and Bangladesh participated, whereas Pakistan was out of the tournament due to strained relations with India. Altogether, four matches were played in the round-robin format. India and Sri Lanka reached the finals, and India won the tournament by seven wickets. This was the second hat trick win for India, and in total, they were announced as the Asia Cup champions for the third time. Arjun Ranatunga again stole the tournament by winning the title of Player of the Series, whereas Kapil Dev of an Indian team was announced as the most prolific wicket-taker.
The fifth edition of the Asia Cup was again hosted by the UAE, and the matches were held in Sharjah. Four teams took part in this edition, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. In total, seven matches were held in a round-robin format, followed by India and Sri Lanka qualifying for the finals. However, Pakistan also had 4 points at the end of the round-robin stage, but they couldn't make it to the final. Finally, once again, India beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets and embarked on a historic win for the third consecutive win, totaling four.
The 1997 Asia Cup edition was hosted by Sri Lanka, and they won the finals by beating India in the finals.
For the first time in the history of the Asia Cup, Pakistan won the tournament by defeating two-time Asia Cup champion Sri Lanka. This was a historic moment for the Pakistan team. In this tournament, four-time champion India could not even make it to the finals.
These two editions of the Asia Cup were won by Sri Lanka; both times India was against them in the finals, and they were defeated by a huge difference in runs and wickets.
India again made a comeback after so long and won this edition of the Asia Cup by defeating Sri Lanka.
This edition was won by the Pakistan team by defeating Bangladesh, who entered the Asia Cup for the first time and made it to the finals in their first edition.
This edition was won by Sri Lanka again, but Bangladesh was declared the Team of the Series as Sabbir Rehman from Bangladesh scored the most runs while Al-Amin Hossain took the most number of wickets in the tournament.
These two editions were won by India back-to-back embarking on the historic seventh tournament in the history of the Asia Cup.
Due to the COVID pandemic, this edition was delayed, and the Asia Cup happened after a complete four years where Sri Lanka and Pakistan made it to the finals, and Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan to embark them as the six-time champions in the history of the Asia Cup.
When talking about the Asia Cup champions, the two teams that come to mind are India and Sri Lanka. India has been a champion seven times and Sri Lanka six times. The Asia Cup has been an exciting chapter in the history of cricket. Several matches have left their immortal prints on this embraceable journey. In this blog, we have covered all the records and past summaries of the Asia Cup. Currently, six countries are cheering for their win in the Asia Cup 2023. The finals will be held on September 17 in Colombo.
