Asia Cup 2018: 3 Reasons Sri Lanka's exit should not surprise you

#2 Afghanistan's Rapid Rise

Though they lack experience, Afghanistan's approach to the game can be compared to any top team globally.

Though Afghanistan did play in the 2015 World Cup, defeating Scotland - their fortunes have changed drastically ever since. The team surprised everyone by qualifying for the World T20 in 2016, leaving behind a Test team like Zimbabwe. In the main tournament, Afghanistan was the only team to defeat West Indies - the winners of that tournament.

Winning many intercontinental and associate championships, Afghanistan's big moment came when they defeated now-Test playing nation Ireland in both ODI and T20I series, and beat West Indies in an ODI on the latter's home turf.

A World Cup qualification was going to be difficult this time, as ICC decided to play only ten teams in the 2019 World Cup. This would include the top eight ODI teams (which did not include Afghanistan) and the two finalists of the 2018 World Cup Qualifier.

Though Afghanistan just managed to make it through to the second round of the tournament after losing three out of four matches in the first round - thanks to a superior net run rate - they came back strongly in the super sixes.

They beat tournament favorites West Indies, second favorites Ireland as well as UAE to make it to the finals and thus the World Cup. They even defeated West Indies yet again in the final, and were awarded Test status three months later.