5 surprising records from Asia Cup

Asia Cup is one of the prestigious tournaments played between the Asian countries (Sub-continent nations). The First Asia Cup tournament was held in 1984 at Sharjah in United Arab Emirates.

As per ICC announcement, the Asia Cup events held from 2016, has been played on a rotation basis between ODI and T20I format on the basis of format of World Cups.

India and Sri Lanka are the most successful teams in the ODI format of the tournament having won the cup five times each. Overall, India became the most successful team in Asia Cup history when they won the inaugural edition of T20I format in 2016. With Hong Kong making it into the 2018 edition of the tournament as an unexpected qualifier (6th team), the final part of the tournament is set to begin on 15 September 2018.

On 01 Sept 2018, the Indian team selectors opted the 16-man squad for the tournament, resting their incumbent skipper- Virat Kohli. In the press conference, the selection panel said that “Considering the workload, we have given Virat Kohli rest. He has been playing continuously for quite some time. We need to preserve some of our precious players who are playing all 3 formats, looking at that workload we have started with Virat and he will be rested for Asia Cup”.

As Rohit Sharma lead the Indian team into multi-team tournament, let's have a look at some surprising records from Asia Cup history:

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#5 No final in inaugural Asia Cup in 1984

Rothmans Asia Cup 1983/84, UAE

The inaugural edition of the Asia Cup was held in 1984 at one of the most iconic venues in the world (Sharjah, UAE). Just 3 matches was held in the tournament between India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

The Indian team emerged as the winner of the inaugural edition, defeating both Pakistan and Sri Lanka by a comfortable margin in a bowling-dominated tournament.

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#4 No ducks for Indian players in ODI format

Indian team's mighty record

In the history of Asia Cup, none of the Indian batsmen got out for a duck in the ODI format of the tournament, making us jaw-drop in wonder. Though the record was broken in the T20I format, it still continues to be in India's favour in the ODIs.

Sri Lanka leads the list of most ducks with 17, ahead of Bangladesh (11) and Pakistan (9) in ODIs.

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#3 Only 5-wicket haul by an Indian bowler

Arshad Ayub, India

India's only 5-wicket haul in Asia Cup came way back in 1988 against Pakistan in Dhaka. The right-arm off-break bowler, Arshad Ayub, rattled the Pakistani middle-order and registered his best bowling figures of 9-0-21-5.

Incidentally, it happened to be Indian team's and Asia Cup's first 5-wicket haul.

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#2 Best bowling strike rate in an innings: Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag

Normally, Virender Sehwag's name appears on the top of the best batting strike rate list. To the contrary, he holds the Asia Cup's record of best bowling strike rate in an innings with his blistering spell of 2.5-0-6-4 against Bangladesh in Dambulla.

Picking up wickets for every 4.2 balls, Sehwag's spell restricted Bangladesh to 167, helping India to achieve a comprehensive victory.

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#1 Sachin Tendulkar- 17 wickets

Sachin's mind-boggling record in Asia Cup

Sachin Tendulkar's all-rounder ability were always on display in Asia Cup. He not only destroyed his opponents with the bat but also dismantled them with his conventional spin bowling.

In 23 matches, Sachin picked up 17 wickets at a healthy average of 21.41 and stands 10th in the list of highest wicket-takers in Asia Cup.