The Asia Cup is a biennial international tournament organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). This tournament, which takes place once in two years, features men’s national teams from several asian countries like Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Afghanistan competing for the title of continental champions.
Asia’s premier continental cricket tournament, the Asia Cup, has undergone several transformations since its inception in 1984. Traditionally played in ODI format, the event underwent a historic shift in 2016 when it was staged as a T20 International (T20I) competition for the first time.
Looking at the tournament’s history
The Asia Cup’s untampered ODI run till 2014 was dominated by the Indian and Sri Lankan teams, who had won 5 titles each in the 12 ODI seasons of the tournament. However, in 2015, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) was restructured by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which took over most of its development functions.
While the ACC’s powers were reduced, it retained responsibility for hosting the Asia Cup. Following ICC’s restructuring of the Asian Cricket Council, a new rotational format was announced for the Asia Cup. As per the guidelines, the tournament would alternate between ODIs and T20Is depending on the proximity to global ICC events.
Officials said that they adjusted the tournament format to better prepare participating teams to better prepare for upcoming global ICC events. Under this framework, directives were issued to organise the first-ever T20 Asia Cup in Bangladesh, which would serve as a precursor to the T20 World Cup in India.
Following its initial success in the T20 format, the tournament continued to oscillate between the two formats post-2016. The most previous edition of the Asia Cup took place in ODI format in 2023, where India achieved a decisive victory to become the most successful team to participate in the event by registering its eighth victory.
Asia Cup 2025
The upcoming Asia Cup 2025 is set to begin on September 9, 2025, with an exciting cricketing month ahead. India is set to start their Asia Cup campaign against home favourites UAE on September 10 in Dubai. One of the most anticipated matches of the tournament, India vs Pakistan, will take place at the Dubai International Stadium on September 14.
In a promising development for Indian cricket fans, India and Pakistan have been placed in the same group (Group A) along with the UAE and Oman. This means that if both India and Pakistan reach the Super Fours and eventually the final, they could face each other up to three times in the tournament, setting the global stage for some electric clashes.