Asia Cup’s 15th edition began today (August 27). In the first match, Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka.
Pakistan will play India tomorrow (Sunday, August 28).
Here’s a look at the history of Asia Cup.
The first Asia Cup was played in 1984 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India became the first team to win the Asia Cup. Only three matches were played in the tournament.
The next edition was held in Sri Lanka in 1986 while India opted out of playing because of unstable diplomatic relations and were replaced by Bangladesh. India came back in action in the third edition when hosting rights were given to Bangladesh in 1988.
Out of these 14 editions, India won seven times. Sri Lanka won five times while Pakistan has won the title twice.
So far, 14 editions have been played. Among them, 13 took place in the 50-over format while the first T20I edition was played in 2016.
In 2016, Asia Cup took place in T20I format to provide teams an opportunity to prepare for the 2016 T20 World Cup.
This year, the second T20I format is being played at the Asia Cup 2022. This will once again provide the Asian teams an opportunity to prepare for the next T20 World Cup, which is scheduled for October-November.
