Asia Cup 2018: Looking back at all editions

1988 edition: Champions India

This edition was played in Bangladesh, still an associate member, and featured four teams, including the hosts along with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Each team played three others with the top two qualifying for the final. Led by as many as three captains in the league matches, the Lankans reached the final with a hundred per cent record. India started well thrashing Bangladesh by 9 wickets but lost to Sri Lanka by 17 runs.

Pakistan also lost to Lanka and thumped Bangladesh and it made the India-Pakistan game a virtual semi-final and it was Arshad Ayub’s 5 for 21 which saw India win the encounter by 4 wickets to set up the final date with Sri Lanka. The final saw a mismatch as the Lankans were bowled out for 175 and India overhauling the target with 6 wickets in hand. Krishnamachari Srikkanth took three wickets in the final. Dilip Vengsarkar was India’s captain in this edition.

1990-91: Champions India

The fourth edition was back to a three-team affair as Pakistan pulled out of the fray owing to poor relations with India. It was again a round-robin format and India faced Bangladesh in the first match and won it by 9 wickets. The Lankans then stunned India winning the game against the holders by 36 runs at Cuttack.

Arjuna Ranatunga’s Sri Lanka also defeated Bangladesh by 71 runs to qualify for the final. In the final played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata (Calcutta then), an unnoticed hat-trick by Kapil Dev saw the Lankans losing their way towards the end and India eventually won the contest by 7 wickets to also win their third Asia Cup title. India’s captain was Mohammad Azharuddin.

1995 edition: Champions India

India completed their hat-trick of Asia Cup titles and won the fourth trophy overall defeating Sri Lanka in the final of the fifth edition of the tournament played in the UAE. Four teams took part in this edition with India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan finishing at four points in three games while the fourth side, Bangladesh failed to win any game.

However, India and Sri Lanka were better placed than Pakistan in terms of the run-rate to advance to the final. The Lankans defeated Pakistan in their last league match with almost 20 overs to spare, giving a glimpse of their batting style that would dominate world cricket in a few years’ time. The final, however, was one-sided with India thrashing the Lankans by 8 wickets. Azharuddin was India’s captain while Ranatunga led Sri Lanka. This is the first time that Pakistan, led by Moin Khan, won an Asian Cup encounter against India.