The 2022 edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament will take place from August 27 to September 11 in Sri Lanka later this year, the Asian Cricket Council announced on Saturday. Like the 2016 edition, this year as well, the tournament will be played in the T20 format. The qualifiers will be played from August 20 onwards.
The tournament, which is hosted every two years, was last played in 2018 in the United Arab Emirates, where India, under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, defeated neighbours Bangladesh by three wickets in the final played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
The 2020 edition of the tournament was cancelled by the Asian Cricket Council because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was shifted to June 2021, but in 2021 as well, the tournament couldn’t take place because of the pandemic.
So now, after four years, the tournament will make a comeback and this time it will feature six teams – India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and a qualifier.
The qualifier tournament that starts on August 20 will be played between four teams: the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
India is the most successful team in the history of the Asia Cup cricket tournament. In the 14 editions that have taken place up till now, India has won a record seven titles. The Men in Blue emerged as winners in 1984, 1988, 1990/91, 1995, 2010, 2016, and 2018. Sri Lanka has won it five times: in 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, and 2014. Pakistan has won it on two occasions, i.e., in 2000 and 2012.
Bangladesh has managed to reach the finals in the last two editions but failed to get past India in the decider.
This year’s edition will be the second time the tournament will be played in the T20 format. In 2016, the format of the tournament was changed for the first time, and instead of the usual 50-over games, five teams battled in the T20 contest.
In 2016, it served as an ideal preparatory tournament ahead of the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, and this year as well, it will serve the same purpose for the Asian teams, who will later travel to Australia to take part in the T20 World Cup.
