3 Times where India have recorded Asia Cup wins in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates has been a hub of cricket for a long time. The infrastructure there is world-class and it even has an academy run by the cricket governing body there. The UAE has been host to the Indian T20 League on two occasions as well in 2014 and 2020 in full capacity.

The Asia Cup began in 1984 in the Middle East. This was because the office of the Asian Cricket Council was based in the UAE. Here we take a look at three instances when India won the Asia Cup in UAE.

1. Asia Cup 1984

Asia Cup (Image source- Twitter)

The first edition of the Rothmans Asia Cup was held in 1984 in Sharjah in the UAE. The Men in Blue emerged victorious in the championship for the first time under the captaincy of Sunil Gavaskar. Only three teams featured in that tournament, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

India locked horns against Sri Lanka in the final and won the trophy for the very first time. They won both their matches, got eight points, were table toppers, and were later crowned champions. Surinder Khanna had a memorable run in that edition as he made 107 runs and was named the "Player of the Tournament".

2. Asia Cup 1995

Asia Cup (Image source- Twitter)

The 1995 Asia Cup was the fifth Asia Cup tournament, and the second to be held at Sharjah in the Middle East. The tournament went on from April 5th to 14th, that year. Four teams participated in the tournament India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Mohammad Azharuddin was the skipper for India. Sachin Tendulkar also played in that tournament.

The 1995 Asia Cup was held in a round-robin format where each team played the other once, and the top two teams would qualify for a place in the final. India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka all had four points at the end of the round-robin stage, but India and Sri Lanka went into the final based on better run rates. India beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets to win its third consecutive Asia Cup.

3. Asia Cup 2018 

Asia Cup (Image source- Twitter)

India was expected to be the host for that tournament, but geopolitical relations between India and Pakistan were strained then and so UAE was given the status of the host. Alongside India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong, were also a part of the tournament after qualifying.

The teams were divided into two groups and then the tournament followed the semis and final format. India and Bangladesh got to the finals. Rohit Sharma was captaining India and The Men in Blue won a thriller against the tigers to register yet another Asia Cup title to India's name.