The 2018 Asia Cup (also known as Unimoni Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a

One-Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI)

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

tournament that was held in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

in September 2018. It was the 14th edition of the Asia Cup and the third time the tournament was played in the United Arab Emirates, after the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

tournaments.

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

were the defending champions, and retained their title, after beating Bangladesh by three wickets in the final. The five full members of the

Asian Cricket Council The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is a cricket organization which was established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport of Cricket in Asia. Subordinate to the International Cricket Council, the council is the continent's regional administrati ...

took part in the tournament:

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. They were joined by

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, who won the 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier tournament. Hong Kong had lost their ODI status after finishing tenth in the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in March. However, on 9 September 2018, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) awarded ODI status to all matches in the tournament.

Background

Originally, the tournament was scheduled to be played in India. It was moved to the United Arab Emirates, following ongoing political tensions between India and Pakistan. On 29 October 2015, following the

(ACC) meeting in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

(BCCI) secretary stated that the 2018 edition of the tournament would be held in India. In August 2017, the BCCI sought government clearance to host the tournament, after the 2017 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup was moved to Malaysia. In April 2018,

Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born 11 March 1961), also known as MbZ, is an Emirati royal and politician who is serving as the third and current president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi since 2022. Mohamed completed his edu ...

, the Crown Prince of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

, asked if the BCCI and ACC would consider hosting the tournament in Abu Dhabi, in a bid to ensure Pakistan's participation. Pakistan were scheduled to host the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup ahead of the tournament in April. With the announcement that the Asia Cup would be played in the United Arab Emirates, the Emerging Teams Asia Cup was moved to December 2018, with Sri Lanka co-hosting the tournament with Pakistan.

Format

The schedule and format of the tournament was announced on 24 July 2018, with the six teams split into two groups of three. The top two teams from each of the groups progressed to the Super Four section of the tournament. From there, the top two teams of the Super Four section played each other in the final. Initially, the team that finishes second in Group A were scheduled to play their first Super Four game in Abu Dhabi. However, India would be based in Dubai, irrespective of where they finish in the pool. On 19 September 2018, the

(ACC) revised the schedule for the Super Four section The captains of Bangladesh and Pakistan were both critical of the ACC's new schedule.

Teams

* , ICC Full Member * , ICC Full Member * , ICC Full Member * , ICC Full Member * , ICC Full Member * , 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier

Squads

Before the start of the tournament, Wafadar Momand was ruled out of Afghanistan's squad due to injury and was replaced by Yamin Ahmadzai, and Mominul Haque was added to Bangladesh's squad. Dinesh Chandimal and Danushka Gunathilaka were ruled out of Sri Lanka's squad due to injury. They were replaced by Niroshan Dickwella and Shehan Jayasuriya respectively. Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal suffered a wrist injury in the opening match and was ruled out of the rest of the tournament. After the conclusion of the India-Pakistan match in the group stage, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and Shardul Thakur were all ruled out of India's squad for the rest of the tournament due to injuries. They were replaced by Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, and Siddarth Kaul. At the Super Four stage of the tournament, Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes were added to Bangladesh's squad. Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out of Bangladesh's final Super Four match, and the rest of the tournament, due to an injury he initially sustained in January 2018, during the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series.

Match officials

The ICC appointed the following umpires and match referees for all thirteen matches. Six match officiating umpires were from participating countries of the Asia Cup who are the members of ICC International Panel of Umpires, four umpires were from neutral countries, while the remaining two umpires belonged to the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires. ; Match Referees * David Boon * Andy Pycroft ; Umpires from participating nations * Ahmed Shah Pakteen * Anisur Rahman * Anil Chaudhary * Nitin Menon * Chettithody Shamshuddin * Ahsan Raza * Ruchira Palliyaguruge ; Umpires from neutral countries * Rod Tucker * Marais Erasmus * Shaun George * Gregory Brathwaite

Venues

Group stage

faced

in the opening game of the tournament at the

Dubai International Cricket Stadium The Dubai International Stadium, aka the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is mainly used for cricket and is one of the three main cricket stadiums in the country, the other two being ...

. It was Bangladesh's first match in the United Arab Emirates since April 1995, when they faced

in the 1995 Asia Cup. In Group B, Sri Lanka were eliminated from the tournament, after losing both of their matches. Therefore

and Bangladesh progressed to the Super Four section of the competition. In Group A,

also lost both of their matches, meaning that

and Pakistan progressed to the Super Fours.

Group A

---- ----

Group B

---- ----

Super Four

In the penultimate round of Super Four matches, India beat Pakistan by nine wickets and Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by three runs. Therefore, India progressed to the final of the tournament and Afghanistan were eliminated. In the final Super Four match, Bangladesh beat Pakistan by 37 runs to advance to the final. In India's last Super Four match, against Afghanistan, captain

Rohit Sharma Rohit Sharma (born 30 April 1987) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer and the Captain (cricket), captain of the India national cricket team, national team in One Day International, ODIs. He is also a former captain in Tests and T20 ...

and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan were both rested for the match.

MS Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian professional cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and a wicket-keeper. Widely regarded as one of the most prolific wicket-keeper batsmen and captains and one of the greatest O ...

was named captain of the side in their absence, and became the first cricketer to lead India 200 times in ODIs. Dhoni became the oldest player to lead India in an ODI. The match finished in a tie, the first time this had occurred in the Asia Cup. It was also the first time that Afghanistan were involved in a tied game in ODIs. ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Final

Statistics

Most runs

Most wickets

Notes

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{2018–19 in Indian cricket Asia Cup International cricket competitions in the United Arab Emirates 2018 in Emirati cricket International cricket competitions in 2018–19 Asia Cup