The opening match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan kicked off the 15th Cricket Asia Cup on August 27, 2022. The 2017 Asia Cup will follow the same T20 format as the 2016 event. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and one team each from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Hong Kong, and Singapore will compete in the qualifying round beginning on August 20. Since Sri Lanka cannot host the tournament due to geopolitical and internal issues, all T20 Asia Cup games will be played in the United Arab Emirates. So that was the most recent Asia Cup 2022 edition. Now let’s look at the winners of the Asia Cup’s past iterations.
History of Asia Cup
In terms of the history of the Asia Cup, the inaugural competition was staged in the United Arab Emirates in 1984. There were only 3 teams: Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and India. India won the competition after defeating Pakistan and Sri Lanka in round-robin league games. Sri Lanka won the 1986 Asia Cup’s second edition by defeating Pakistan in the championship match by a margin of five wickets. There have been 14 tournaments contested since 1984, with hosts from all around Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE & Pakistan). Until 2016, the Asia Cup was held under the One Day International format.
But in 2016, it was changed to the T20 format due to the rise in popularity of T20 cricket and the decline in viewer attention span. India is the most successful team in the Asia Cup with a total of 7 victories. They have each won the previous two championships, and they all hope to win three in a row this year. Sri Lanka is the second-most successful team, having won five titles between the years 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, and 2014. Pakistan, on the other side, has won two championships in the years 2000 and 2012. Afghanistan and Bangladesh have yet to claim their first-ever Asia Cup victory.
The Winner List of Asia Cup 1984-2022
India (seven), Sri Lanka (5), and Pakistan, three cricketing nations, have the most victories in Asia Cup history (2). The complete list of Asia Cup winners and runners-up from all 14 played editions can be seen below.
| Year | Winner |
| 1984 | India |
| 1986 | Sri Lanka |
| 1988 | India |
| 1991 | India |
| 1995 | India |
| 1997 | Sri Lanka |
| 2000 | Pakistan |
| 2004 | Sri Lanka |
| 2008 | Sri Lanka |
| 2010 | India |
| 2012 | Pakistan |
| 2014 | Sri Lanka |
| 2016 | India |
| 2018 | India |
| 2022 | Sri Lanka |
After reading the second part of the above table, it is clear that Bangladesh, which placed second in 2012, 2016, and 2018, has begun to emerge as a contender for the Asia Cup. Only time will tell if they have enough left in the tank to win the championship, or if the cup will once again go to the established cricketing superpowers.
Wrapping it All Up…
Here is a list of all 38 years’ worth of Asia Cup champions, runners-up, host countries, and tournament MVPs. It would be intriguing to see how countries do before moving on to the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to begin in October 2022, as the competition is likely to return in T20I format once more. Keep reading fantasy app developer blogs to know such informative content.
