Three teams who have won most ODI Asia Cup titles

Asia Cup started in 1984, and Team India won the inaugural edition, beating Sri Lanka in the final.

The Asia Cup is a tournament in ODI and T20I format between the top Asian teams. It started back in 1984, and so far, there have been 15 successful editions. The first ever edition was won by Team India, beating Sri Lanka in the final. The Indian team is also the most successful team in Asia Cup history.

Next are Sri Lanka, and Pakistan are third on this list. In this article, we will talk about the three teams with the most Asia Cup titles in history. Notably, out of 15 seasons, 13 have been played in the ODI format, while two (2016 and 2022) took place in the T20 format. India in 2016 and Sri Lanka in 2022 won one each in the T20 format. In 2015, it was decided that the Asia Cup preceding the World Cup will be played in the respective format. The upcoming edition, Asia Cup 2023 will be played in the ODI format.

Here are the top three teams with the most ODI titles in Asia Cup History.

3. Pakistan (2000, 2012):

Pakistan have taken part in 12 of the 13 ODI editions of the Asia Cup. They were not part of the fourth edition. But in the 12 editions, they qualified for the finals four times. The first time, they did it in 1986 under Imran Khan but lost to Sri Lanka by 5 wickets. In their second attempt in 2000 under Moin Khan, they beat Sri Lanka by 39 runs to win the championship. Then, Pakistan repeated it in 2012 under Misbah-ul-Haq, when they won against Bangladesh by just two runs. In 2014, they came close but lost to Sri Lanka in the final by five wickets.

2. Sri Lanka (1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2014):

Sri Lanka recently won the 15th edition of the Asia Cup in 2022, beating Pakistan in the final. But it was played in T20I format and was Sri Lanka’s sixth overall. But they have also won five ODI Asia Cup titles out of the 13 seasons they have played. Notably, Sri Lanka also ended six ODI editions (1984, 1988, 1990–91, 1995, 2000, and 2010) as runners-up.

Sri Lanka won their first edition in 1986 under Duleep Mendis, beating Imran Khan-led Pakistan in the final by 5 wickets (India didn’t take part in it). Sri Lanka won their second title in 1997 under Arjuna Ranatunga. They beat India in the final by 8 wickets and chased 240/2 in 36.5 overs. In 2004, Marvan Atapattu led his country to its third Asia Cup title. They beat India in the final by 25 runs.

Sri Lanka were able to defend their title in 2008 under Mahela Jayawardene. For the second consecutive time, they beat India in the final, this time by 100 runs. They made 273 runs (Sanath Jayasuriya 125) and dismissed India for 173 runs. The fifth ODI title came in 2014 under Angelo Mathews. This time, they beat Pakistan in the final by five wickets.

1. India (1984, 1988, 1990–91, 1995, 2010, 2018):

Team India won the inaugural season in 1984 under Sunil Gavaskar, beating Sri Lanka. The Indian team are the most successful, with six ODI titles and one T20I title. Interestingly, five times out of six wins in the ODI edition, India have beaten Sri Lanka in the finals. After winning the inaugural season, India didn’t take part in the second edition in 1986.

But then they came back strongly to win the next three editions in 1988, 1990–91, and 1995, respectively, and defeated Sri Lanka in all three finals. Dilip Vengsarkar (1988) and Mohammad Azharuddin (1990–91 and 1995) were the captains who led the Indian team to victory. Adding to that, in all three consecutive finals, India beat Sri Lanka by chasing the target by a margin of 6, 7 and 8 wickets, respectively.

However, after winning four of the first five editions, it took India a gap of four seasons to win their next Asia Cup title. In this period, India ended as runners-up in 1997, 2004, and 2008, losing to Sri Lanka in all three attempts. But then, in 2010, MS Dhoni led India to victory, and they beat Sri Lanka by 81 runs in the final. India’s next win came under Rohit Sharma in 2018, beating Bangladesh in the final by three wickets.

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