South Asia is the biggest cricket crazy region in the world. Cricket is a religion to one third of these populations. Most importantly all the Asian Cricket giants are from South Asia. Commencing 25th February 2014, five South Asian nations will battle it out for Asia’s biggest cricket prize.
History of the Tournament
The Asia Cup was formed by the Asian Cricket Council in 1983 in order to enhance the unity of Asia’s cricketing nations at a time when One Day International cricket was booming. Originally, the tournament was scheduled to be held every two years, with the inaugural edition being played in Sharjah in 1984. During the previous 11 editions, India has won the trophy on 5 occasions. Sri Lanka 4 times and Pakistan twice.
2014 Tournament structure
The 12th Asia Cup will be held in Bangladesh at two separate venues in Dhaka. The tournament opens on Tuesday, February 25th 2014 at Fatullah while the final will be played on March 8th at Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
Five ODI nations are taking part for the first time, hosts Bangladesh along with Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan an ODI nation since 2009, are making their Asia Cup debut. Pakistan is the defending champion after their triumph against Bangladesh in the previous edition.
This year’s event has 11 matches, where the last two Asia Cups had seven each. Each team meets the other four sides in the competition just once in a round-robin format, resulting in the completion of four matches for each nation across a stretch of 10 days. The top two sides at the end of the 10-match round-robin will contest the final on March 8 in Dhaka.
Sri Lanka ready to be Worthy Winners
Perennial underachievers in major International Cricket Council tournaments, the Sri Lankans will target a turnaround by challenging their historical neighbors in Dhaka. A three-nil whitewash against the hosts, Bangladesh would have boosted their confidence and their one month long successful tour of Bangladesh would make them one of the favorites to win the trophy.
Sri Lanka will play the tournament without three of their top players (Dilshan,Kulasekara & Herath) due to injuries. Mahela Jayawardene’s return would boost the Sri Lankan batting order as the youngsters like Kusal Janith, Dinesh Chandimal & Ashan Priyanjan will be the main cynosure.
India to prove a ‘Big’ point
World ODI Champions India will commence this tournament in torrid form after successive drubbings by South Africa and New Zealand. With their captain cool MS Dhoni ruled out of the tournament with injury, young batting superstar Virat Kohli will assume the captaincy duties.
India under the leadership of Virat Kohli will require a prompt return to form with ICC World Twenty 20 just around the corner.
India will once again depend on their main strength, batting. Players like Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli will have to play a pivotal role in their team’s success. India’s weakness will be their bowling and the Indian bowling attack will be up against another test of higher strike rates.
Capable Pakistan to defend the title
Pakistan are known as the most unpredictable team going around the world as they can switch from stellar performance to disaster within minutes. Pakistan’s main rival will be India and the India vs Pakistan face-off will certainly be a game to watch out for. Successful Misbah Ul-Haq will once again show his temperament and character leading the side from the front.
After their recent 3-2 win over Sri Lanka in UAE, the young and old blended Pakistani outfit will be the main favorites to defend their title. Pakistan’s main pillar of strength will be their bowling depth with a rich variety of bowlers in their ranks. Mohammed Hafeez and Shahid Afridi will have to be at their best if they are to defend the title from India and Sri Lanka.
Uphill task for troubled Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s recent problems will see them enter the Asia Cup as outsiders at home. Bangladesh failed to win a single match in their last 7 matches played in 3 formats against Sri Lanka at home. The hosts will be no longer regarded as minnows but they have a daunting task of registering wins at their own back yard before the biggest tournament ever to be played in Bangladesh to commence after the Asia Cup.
Bangladesh will also be without Shakib Al Hasan for the first two matches due to disciplinary reasons. Bangladesh’s key opening batsman Tamim Iqbal will miss the whole tournament with an injury. Captain Mushfiqur Rahim will have his work cut out with the young bunch of inexperienced players to face the top 3 teams from Asia.
Learning Curve for Afghanistan
Afghanistan is determined to be world cricket’s next big thing. The spirited Cricketers from Afghanistan will play their first major ODI tournament before debuting in next year’s global ODI showpiece. Their recent form suggests they are one of the better sides among international cricket’s minor nations. Afghanistan will be itching to make an impact especially in their game against Bangladesh.
Skipper Mohammed Nabi, Former captain Nawrooz Mangal, aggressive Mohammed Shehzad will be the key batsmen to look out for while the extra pace of Hamid Hassen and Shapoor Zadran will test the batting techniques of the star studded teams.
Full Squads
Bangladesh – Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Anamul Haque, Imrul Kayes, Shamsur Rahman, Naeem Islam, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Ziaur Rahman, Abdur Razzak, Sohag Gazi, Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan.
Sri Lanka – Angelo Mathews (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Lasith Malinga, Kusal Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Suranga Lakmal, Chaturanga De Silva, Sachithra Senanayake, Ajantha Mendis, Ashan Priyanjan.
India – Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra, Ishwar Pandey, Dinesh Karthik.
Pakistan – Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Fawad Alam, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Anwar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Mohammad Talha.
Afghanistan – Mohammad Nabi (captain), Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Karim Sadiq, Nowroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai, Samiullah Shenwari, Rahmat Shah, Mirwais Ashraf, Fazal Niazai, Hamza Hotak, Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Najeeb Zadran.
Asia Cup schedule:
