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Aiming to clinch their eighth Asia Cup title, Team India face Sri Lanka in the final of the ongoing continental showpiece event at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday. Rohit Sharma and Co. began their Asia Cup 2023 campaign on a shaky note against Pakistan in their opener. The match was called off after the first innings due to rain and both teams shared a point each respectively. But in the first innings, India faced a top-order collapse with Rohit (11), Shubman Gill (10), Virat Kohli (4) and Shreyas Iyer (14) getting dismissed cheaply.
Then, India defeated Nepal by 10 wickets in their next match to book a berth in the Super 4 stage. In the Super 4 stage, India found form and began with a 228-run win against Pakistan, courtesy of tons from Virat Kohli (122*) and KL Rahul (111*). Following their massive win vs Pakistan, Rohit and Co. defeated defending champions Sri Lanka by 41 runs to seal a spot in the final. In their final Super 4 fixture, India crashed to a six-run defeat against Bangladesh.
India’s title wins at the Asia Cup have come in 1984, 1988, 1991, 1995, 2010, 2016 and 2018. It is also the highest by any team in the tournament’s history.
1. 1984
The inaugural 1984 edition was held in UAE and was in ODI format. There were three teams and India won the title via round-robin format and Sri Lanka finished as runners-up.
2. 1988
In the Asia Cup final in 1988, India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets, in Dhaka. Navjot Sidhu received the Player of the Match award, courtesy of a knock of 76 runs off 87 deliveries.
3. 1990-91
As hosts, India clinched their third Asia Cup title in the 1990-91 edition. They once again faced Sri Lanka in the finals and won by seven wickets in Kolkata.
4. 1995
Facing Sri Lanka in the final, India were set a target of 231 runs. They reached 233/2 in 41.5 overs, winning by eight wickets in Sharjah.
5. 2010
Dinesh Karthik was in fiery batting form in the 2010 Asia Cup final between India and Sri Lanka. Opening the first innings with Gautam Gambhir, Karthik slammed 66 runs off 84 balls as India reached 268/6 in 50 overs. Chasing a target of 269, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 187 in 44.4 overs, and Ashish Nehra bagged a four-wicket haul for India.
6. 2016
In 2016, the Asia Cup was held in the T20I format for the first time, and India won the title, defeating hosts Bangladesh in the final by eight wickets.
7. 2018
India’s last title win in the Asia Cup came in 2018, in Dubai. The tournament was held in ODI format and India defeated Bangladesh in the final by 3 wickets.
In the ongoing Asia Cup edition, Shubman Gill currently leads the run chart with 275 runs in five matches, and is closely followed by Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis (253) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (215) in second and third positions respectively. The top-scorer for Asia Cup 2023 will be decided in the final. Meanwhile, Matheesha Pathirana is currently the highest wicket-taker with 11 wickets in five games.
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