Journey of Asia Cup over the decades - Asia Cup History (1984 to 2018)

If the brain of an Asian cricket fan can be scanned frame by frame, the memories of Asia Cup moments would have occupied some voluminous space.

Sachin's supremacy, Kohli's 183, Jayasuriya's centuries, Ranathunga's leadership, Malinga's merciless magical spells, Shahid Afridi's alarming strike rate, Pakistan's 385 vs Sri Lanka and much more moments want us to relive it all again.

Out of the 14 seasons, India won 7, Sri Lanka won 5 and Pakistan won 2 titles. Even though India vs Pakistan is the most awaited moment, India - Sri Lanka rivalry is no way lesser than that. Whenever they locked their horns, it turned out to be a match filled with some fascinating moments. Here we have a quick recap of the journey of the trophy over the years from nation to nation.

1984 - UAE:

The world champion of that time, India went out to the field to meet its FRENEMIES, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the first time, on a very different platform. The first world cup winning captain of India had missed the tournament due to a knee injury but that did not stop his army to win the first-ever edition of the Asia Cup. In the series where all the three teams played each other once, India was phenomenal. Because of Indian bowlers' spellbinding spells, they could clutch the success with a big margin in both matches.

1986 - Sri Lanka:

The second Asia Cup was held in Sri Lanka. India did not take part due to political reasons and the battle between Sri Lanka and Pakistan was conquered by the former. Bangladesh too played its maiden Asia Cup in that season but things did not go on well for it. It had lost both the matches. The lucky charm of Sri Lanka, Arjuna Ranathunga was awarded the man of the series award for his brilliant knocks weaving with 105 runs. Even though it failed to end up with the nail-biting finishes, the warfare of both the legendary captains Imran Khan and Ranathunga was quite impressive.

1988 - Bangladesh:

That was the first time when all four teams were playing together. Sri Lanka's dominance was quite unbelievable, throughout and they did not even lose any of the matches in the entire series. But India had other plans. They missed hitting the ball earlier in the court against Sri Lanka in the league, but in the final, the tables turned around. Srikanth's spell sent out three wickets to restrict the opposition to 176. Both Navjot Sidhu, the show stealer of the entire tournament and the captain Vengsarkar hit half-centuries each to guide them to the second title.

1990/91 - India:

That was the first time when the Asia Cup was played in India and Pakistan pulled out of the series due to political reasons which reduced the spice of the game. As predicted, India and Sri Lanka met in the finals. Kapil Dev's hat trick silenced the Sri Lankan side and their captain missed a half-century just by a run and took the team to 204. Sachin and Manjrekar hit half-centuries but Mohammad Azharuddin's captain cameo knock at the end aided the Indian crowd to witness their team lifting the trophy again.

1995 - UAE:

Throughout this fifth season, Sachin Tendulkar's innings were match-winning and that took them to their hat trick trophy. India was the table topper in the group stages with a high run rate and in the final also the roar was even more notable. Sri Lanka was attempting to defend them by riding through their batting line-up but India sliced the bowling attack. Azharuddin was again the game changer. His 90 and Sidhu's 84 made things easy for them.

1997 - Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka was already transformed into a champion side, both literally and figuratively. The 1996 World Cup title showed how unbeatable they were and this edition of the Asia Cup gave the Deja Vu feel to all the other teams. They were unimaginably good and they put a full stop to India's winning streak of titles. Undoubtedly, Arjuna Ranathunga was the sole reason to convert his team into a super-powered squad. His amazing 131 against India and two more half-centuries in other matches gave the team what they wanted exactly. No one was surprised to see Sri Lanka's win over India in that season as their glories had already spread their wings.

2000 - Bangladesh:

A new decade on the doorway saw a new champion and Pakistan seized it for the first time. India slipped to the third position which left the top 2 teams, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to fight for the title. The revenge of the 1986 final was avenged sevenfold after 14 years by Pakistan. In the first-ever fashionable day and night final, Pakistan set a target of 278 and its bowlers helped it to defend it successfully.

2004 - Sri Lanka:

That was the first time, Asian association nations, Hong Kong and the UAE made their entry into the tournament. Pakistan and Sri Lanka were the table toppers, in their respective groups, in the group stage. But India pushed Pakistan out to seal its position in the final in the `Super 4' stage. In the final, India met Sri Lanka only to lose it to them irrespective of Sachin's brilliance with bat and ball.

2008 - Pakistan:

The 9th season saw the battle of India vs Sri Lanka once again. The rivalry's intensity increased even more than in the previous years. The attacking shots of Sehwag expected to wind up the game in the favour of India, as soon as possible, as 274 appeared to be reachable. But, then came a lethal weapon of Sri Lanka in the name of Ajantha Mendis who gave a breakthrough to his side. This valuable asset of Sri Lanka sent out the greatest batsmen of India one after another and finally, his 6/13 helped his side to win their 4th title by a 100 runs win.

2010 - Sri Lanka:

Again in 2010, only the major four teams played the game against each other but India overtook Sri Lanka by 5/4 in the title hunt. Shahid Afridi scored 265 runs and Malinga took 9 wickets for their sides to see the peak of the table as the highest run scorer and highest wicket-taker of the tournament but the title winner was India. The victory by 81 runs over Sri Lanks healed the pain of the Indian fans after two long years.

2012 - Bangladesh:

This season saw another dimension of Virat Kohli through his magnificent knock of 183 against Pakistan. Both the regular customers of the finals, India and Sri Lanka failed to reach the end and in the final, Bangladesh was beaten by Pakistan by 2 runs, to taste that thrilling victory. Many heroic performances were seen from both sides but Pakistan was not ready to miss its second title. Sachin's 100 th century was the one fine memory of that tournament.

2014 - Bangladesh:

One more guest, Afghanistan was added to the race. Even though it was their first 50-over tournament, They surprised everyone by defeating Bangladesh by 32 runs. India could not make it to the final and Sri Lanka took over Pakistan and won by 5 wickets. Lahiru Thirimanne's phenomenal century made it possible for them.

2016 - Bangladesh:

In that year, the Asia cup was conducted in the T20 format for the first time. All five nations, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and UAE had taken part in that league. After several years, India brought back the trophy home. The target of 121 was set by Bangladesh and it was easily chased by India with Dhawan's half-century.

2018 - UAE:

The 14 th edition of the Asia cup was once again played in ODI format as the 50-over world cup was in the pipeline, the following year. The heroics of Kuldeep and Dhawan in their respective fields helped India to defend its championship. India won Bangladesh by 2 wickets to win the title again.

Most of the time, the sub-continent nations are the most unpredictable when they play against each other. After four long years, it's back for unveiling some shocks and surprises. The challenge is going to be tough as the nations see it as the dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup that is going to be staged in a couple of months and it ensures that the ferocious encounters are on the way.

Get ready folks, A lavish feast is going to be served on the Field!!!