India-Pak final not held in Asia Cup till date: Tournament organized 14 times in 38 years, Team India is in the forefront with 7 titles

The countdown for the Asia Cup has started. There are only 13 days left. This tournament has always been seen as a great India-Pakistan match as both are big teams from Asia. However, surprisingly, there have been 14 seasons of the Asia Cup, but till now the final between India and Pakistan has never been played.

This time both these teams will start their campaign against each other on August 28. Both have been placed in Pool-A. At present, India and Pakistan are the two most powerful teams in Asia and the 38-year drought of the India-Pakistan final in the Asia Cup may end. Cricket pundits are also predicting the final between these two cricket superpowers.

1st season-1984: India vs Sri Lanka (India)

In 1984, India became the winner of the first edition of the Asia Cup at the Sharjah Stadium. 3 teams (India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) took part in this tournament. This tournament was played in the ODI format. India won 2 matches in this tri-series. They beat Sri Lanka by ten wickets and Pakistan by 54 runs.

Season 2 - 1986: Sri Lanka v Pakistan (Sri Lanka)

This time it was hosted by Colombo. Hosts Sri Lanka won the title by defeating Pakistan by 5 wickets. He was playing the final for the second time. Playing first on 6 April, Pakistan scored 191 runs in 45 overs. In reply, Sri Lanka won by scoring 195 for 5 wickets.

Season 3 - 1988: India vs Sri Lanka (India)

India won this final match played in Bangladesh by 6 wickets. He became the Asian Champion for the second time. He once again defeated Sri Lanka. Just the place was different. Sri Lanka scored 176 runs in 43.5 overs. In reply, Team India won the second title in 37.1 overs, scoring 180 runs for four wickets.

Fourth season-1990-91: India vs Sri Lanka (India)

Now the host was India. India-Sri Lanka was once again face-to-face in the final. Sri Lanka had a chance to level the account at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. He scored 204/9 playing first. India achieved the target for three wickets in 42.1 overs thanks to the captaincy innings of Mohammad Azharuddin (54 *). He became the champion for the third time.

Season 5 - 1995: India vs Sri Lanka (India)

India and Sri Lanka were again playing in the final. Sri Lanka scored 230/7 in the UAE. Which the Indian team achieved by scoring 233 for two wickets in 41.5 overs. Navjot Singh Sidhu scored an unbeaten 84 and captain Mohammad Azharuddin scored 90 not out in this match. Sachin Tendulkar contributed 41 runs. India won the fourth title.

Season 6–1997: Sri Lanka vs India (Sri Lanka) Sri Lanka was hosting the Asia Cup for the second time. The final between defending champions India and Sri Lanka took place at the Colombo Stadium. In which the Indian team failed to defend the score of 239/7. The hosts had won by making 240 for two in 36.5 overs. Marvan Atapattu scored 84 runs. While Arjuna Ranatunga was the Player of the Series scoring 272 runs. Here India lost the final match for the first time.

Season 7 - 2000: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (Pakistan)

4 countries took part in this tournament held in Bangladesh and Pakistan-Sri Lanka made it to the final. In Dhaka, Pakistan first scored 277/4, after which the Sri Lankan team was bowled out for 238 runs in 42.2 overs. Wasim Akram, Mohammad Akram, and Arshad Khan took two wickets each. Moin Khan (56*) was the man of the final. While Mohammad Yusuf (295) was the player of the tournament.

Eighth Season-2004: Sri Lanka v India (Sri Lanka)

This time the number of teams was bigger. Now 6 teams were participating in the tournament. Sri Lanka and India were once again playing the final at the Colombo Stadium. Sri Lanka scored 228 runs in 50 overs. In reply, the Indian team could only score 203 runs for 9 wickets in the allotted over. Marvan Atapattu (65) once again won the final for the hosts. This time the bat of Man of the Series Sanath Jayasuriya also went well. He not only scored 293 runs. But also took 4 wickets.

Ninth Season-2008: Sri Lanka v India (Sri Lanka)

Pakistan was hosting the Asia Cup for the first time. India-Sri Lanka was playing the title match for the seventh time. Sri Lanka scored 273 runs in Karachi and reduced Team India to 173 runs in 39.3 overs. Here Ajanta Mendis (6/13) broke India's dream of becoming an Asian champion for the fifth time. He was also the Player of the Tournament (46 runs and 17 wickets).

Season 10 - 2010: India vs Sri Lanka (India)

The final match of this season held in Sri Lanka was also between India and Sri Lanka. Both these teams were playing the final for the third time in a row. Two of these were lost by India. Here India first scored 268/6. Then Sri Lankan batsmen were run for 187 runs in 44.4 overs. Dinesh Karthik scored 66 runs in this final. While Ashish Nehra took four wickets. India became the Asian champion after 15 years.

11th season-2012: Pakistan vs Bangladesh (Pakistan)

For the first time, the final of the Asia Cup was being played without India and Sri Lanka. In every previous season, one team from India-Sri Lanka had reached the final. Pakistan team scored 236/9 in Mirpur. In reply, Bangladesh could reach only 234. They lost the final by 2 runs. Shahid Afridi was the man of the match and Shakib Al Hasan was the man of the series. Sarfaraz Ahmed scored an unbeaten 46 in the final.

12th Season-2014: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan (Sri Lanka)

Bangladesh hosted the Asia Cup for the second time in a row. But, the hosts could not make it to the finals this time as well. The final was played between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Which Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets. In Mirpur, Pakistan set a target of 261. Sri Lanka got five wickets in 46.2 overs. Lasith Malinga (5/56) was the man of the match.

13th Season-2016: India vs Bangladesh (India)

For the first time, the Asia Cup was played in the T20 format. This time the number of teams also increased. Now there were matches between 9 teams. Of these, 4 came from the qualifiers. Mirpur was hosting the final of the Asia Cup for the third time in a row. Bangladesh scored 120 runs in 15 overs. India scored 122 runs for two wickets in 13.5 overs and won. Shikhar Dhawan (60) was the man of the final.

14th Season-2018: India vs Bangladesh

Once again the Asia Cup was played in the old i.e. ODI format. This time matches were played between 6 teams. Once again the final was played between India and Bangladesh. But the place was different. This time the final was played in Dubai. Bangladesh scored 222 runs. The Indian team scored the required runs for 7 wickets. Captain Rohit Sharma scored the highest 48 runs. Shikhar Dhawan (342) was the man of the series.

Also Read: Those records of India that it is difficult for Pakistan to break: Defeated in 12 consecutive matches in the World Cup, won 112 Tests at home ground