Asia Cup 2022: 3 best India vs Sri Lanka encounters in the history of the tournament

With the Asia Cup approaching, the rivalry between India and Sri Lanka will also be in focus. It has always been an intense but friendly rivalry. Right from the first match between the two teams in 1979, to the epic World Cup final in 2011, the two sides usually put on a show for the fans of the game.

The two teams are also the most successful in the Asia Cup. India are the defending champions and will be on the hunt for their eighth title. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have won the tournament five times.

There's not much to separate the two sides in the head-to-head record. In 20 Asia Cup games played between the Asian giants, both India and Sri Lanka have won 10 encounters each.

As the stage gets ready for another edition of the Asia Cup, this time in the T20 format, let's take a walk down memory lane. Here are three of the best Asia Cup encounters between India and Sri Lanka.

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#1 Asia Cup Final, 2008

In the classic final of the 2008 edition of the tournament, Sri Lanka pipped India to clinch their fourth title. The two sides had played each other earlier in the tournament, with India comfortably chasing down a total of 308 runs.

However, in that pre-final game, Sri Lanka kept out their newly arrived mystery spinner, Ajantha Mendis. The canny bowler possessed what has now come to be known as the 'carrom ball' and was wreaking havoc with it.

In a brilliant tactical move, the Lankans decided not to expose him to the Indian batsmen before the big final. His 'carrom ball' was expected to be the ace in the pack for the Islanders.

First, though, India had to deal with a very familiar nemesis in the final – Sanath Jayasuriya.

The southpaw scored a century and carried Sri Lanka to a total of 273, not a bad score. India, in reply, were motoring along initially, courtesy a flying start from Virender Sehwag.

At 70/0, the Men in Blue were on course to victory. However, everyone was waiting for the big moment when Mendis would be brought into the attack. He was, after the powerplay. The mystery spinner ran riot in his spell, to which the Indian batters had no answers.

From 76/1, India were bundled out for 173 in 40 overs. Mendis picked up figures of 6/13 from his eight overs, bamboozling the entire Indian line-up to help his side to a memorable win.

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#2 The Delhi boys rescue India in 2012

The 2012 edition of the Asia Cup produced another iconic encounter between the two sides. After being put in to bat first, India lost their opener, Sachin Tendulkar. It was 19/1 when the two Delhi lads, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli joined hands in the middle.

The duo stitched together a sensational 205-run stand with both batters scoring impressive tons. MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina added the finishing touches to the innings to help India post a healthy total of 305.

In reply, Sri Lanka lost Tillakaratne Dilshan early on, but the experienced heads of Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara made sure they steadied the ship with a partnership.

Irfan Pathan broke the 93-run stand, dismissing Jayawardena and in turn derailing the Lankan innings. The all-rounder was the star with the ball, bagging four wickets in the game.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Vinay Kumar ran through the remainder of the batting order, taking three wickets each to give India a comfortable 50-run victory in the end.

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#3 Kumar Sangakkara's heroics in 2014

In this epic encounter in 2014, Sri Lanka clinched a thrilling victory courtesy of their senior man, Kumar Sangakkara. India were put in to bat first and put up a decent target of 265 runs with fine knocks from Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli.

Sri Lanka got off to an excellent start in the run chase with Kusal Perera scoring 64 at the top of the order. However, Sangakkara was the Player of the Match for his mesmerizing century.

As wickets tumbled around him, the southpaw veteran held his nerve to construct a masterclass in that run chase. While he did not manage to finish things off, the game was all but sealed by the time the former Sri Lankan captain was dismissed. The four-time champions won a thrilling contest by two wickets with two balls to spare.