The 2022 Asia Cup (also known as

DP World DP World is an Emirati multinational logistics company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It specialises in cargo logistics, port terminal operations, maritime services and free trade zones. Formed in 2005 by the merger of Dubai Ports Auth ...

Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the

Asia Cup The Asian Cricket Council Asia Cup is a men's One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

tournament, with the matches played as

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

s (T20Is) during August and September 2022 in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. Originally scheduled to be held in September 2020, the tournament was postponed in July 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. It was then rescheduled to take place in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in June 2021, before being postponed once again.

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

was scheduled to host the tournament after retaining the rights to host the 2022 edition. However, in October 2021, the

Asian Cricket Council The Asian Cricket Council also known as ACC is a cricket organisation 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 ...

(ACC) announced that Sri Lanka would host the tournament in 2022, with Pakistan hosting the 2023 edition.

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

were the defending champions, and were eliminated in the Super Four stage in this edition. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 23 runs in the final, to win their sixth title and their first in T20I format. On 21 July 2022,

Sri Lanka Cricket Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national spo ...

(SLC) informed the ACC that they would not be in a position to host the tournament due to the economic and political crisis in the country. On 27 July 2022, the ACC confirmed that the tournament would be played in the United Arab Emirates, with Sri Lanka Cricket serving as the tournament's hosts. The fixtures for the tournament were announced on 2 August 2022.

Background

In December 2018, the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...

(PCB) were granted the rights to host the tournament by the

(ACC). However, it was unclear if the matches will be played in Pakistan or the United Arab Emirates. After the announcement was made, the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...

(BCCI) requested that the PCB change the event's venue due to ongoing security concerns. Pakistan last held a multi-team international tournament in 2008, with the 2008 Asia Cup. Since then, only a handful of international matches have taken place in Pakistan following the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team. In May 2019, the ACC confirmed that Pakistan will host the tournament. The decision to host the tournament in Pakistan raised doubts over India's participation, with the ongoing political tension between the two countries. In October 2019, the decision to host the tournament in Pakistan was still to be agreed by the ACC, due to doubts raised over India's participation. In January 2020, various news outlets reported that Pakistan would not be hosting the tournament, due to their ongoing political tensions with India. On 28 February 2020, the BCCI President

Sourav Ganguly Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; natively spelled as Gangopadhyay; born 8 July 1972), affectionately known as Dada (meaning ''"elder brother"'' in Bengali), is an Indian cricket administrator, commentator and former national cricket team captain w ...

stated that "the Asia Cup will be held in Dubai and both India and Pakistan will play." The following day,

Ehsan Mani Ehsan Mani (Urdu: ; born 23 March 1945) is a Pakistani chartered accountant who is the former president of International Cricket Council (ICC) and former Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Early life Mani was born in Rawalpindi Pakistan in ...

Chairman of the PCB, contradicted Ganguly's statement, saying that the venue has not been finalised. Initially, The ACC was scheduled to meet on 3 March 2020 to discuss the location of the tournament, but the meeting was moved back until the end of March due to the

. On 7 March, Mani said that the tournament would be played at a neutral venue. The following month, he admitted that the tournament may not take place at all due to the pandemic. In June 2020, following a meeting with the ACC, the PCB said they would be willing to let Sri Lanka host the tournament, with India unwilling to travel to Pakistan. The ACC issued a press release following the meeting stating that "in light of the impact and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, possible venue options for the Asia Cup 2020 were discussed and it was decided to take the final decision in due course". In July 2020, an official announcement of the postponement was made by the ACC. In March 2021, the tournament was at risk of a further postponement after

qualified for the final of the

World Test Championship In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, which clashed with the proposed dates in June. The qualifier tournament had been postponed in July 2020. In May 2021, the ACC confirmed that there would be no Asia Cup in 2021, with that edition of the tournament deferred until 2023. In October 2021, following a meeting with the ACC,

Ramiz Raja Ramiz Hasan Raja ( ur, ; born 14 August 1962) is a Pakistani cricket administrator, commentator, YouTuber, and former cricketer who served as the 35th Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board between September 2021 and December 2022. As a pla ...

confirmed that Pakistan would host the following tournament in 2023, with Sri Lanka hosting the 2022 edition. A qualification tournament was played in August 2022. On 17 July 2022, due to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka and mass protests across the country, the Secretary of SLC Mohan de Silva stated that the tournament will be hosted in the United Arab Emirates.

Teams and qualifications

The qualifier tournament was contested in August 2022, by the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

and

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, who progressed from the 2020 ACC Western Region T20, as well as

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, who came through the

2020 ACC Eastern Region T20 The 2022 Asia Cup Qualifier was a men's cricket tournament which took place in Oman in August 2022 to determine qualification for the 2022 Asia Cup (which was originally scheduled to be played in 2020). The 2020 editions of the ACC Western and Eas ...

. Hong Kong qualified for the main event after a first-place finish in the qualifier.

Squads

India also named

Deepak Chahar Deepak Chahar (born 7 August 1992) is an Indian international cricketer. He is a right-arm Fast bowling, medium pace Swing bowling, swing bowler, who plays for Rajasthan cricket team, Rajasthan in domestic cricket and Chennai Super Kings in the ...

Shreyas Iyer Shreyas Santosh Iyer (born 6 December 1994) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team as a Right-handed batter. He has played in all formats for the Indian team. Iyer has scored a century in his debut test matc ...

and

Axar Patel Axar Rajeshbhai Patel, also spelled as Akshar Patel, (born 20 January 1994) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team in all formats of the game as a bowling All-rounder. He also plays for Gujarat in domestic cr ...

as standby players. The ACC extended the deadline for squad announcements from 8 August to 11 August 2022 following a request from the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Bangladesh also named

Mrittunjoy Chowdhury Mrittunjoy Chowdhury (born 28 June 2001) is a Bangladeshi cricketer. Chowdhury was part of Bangladesh's squad for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, although he was later ruled out of the tournament with an injury. Due to his injury, the Bangla ...

, Ripon Mondol and

Soumya Sarkar Soumya Sarkar ( bn, সৌম্য সরকার; born 25 February 1993) is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right arm medium-fast bowler who mainly plays as an opening batsman and the creator of the good looking " S ...

as standby players. Afghanistan also named

Qais Ahmad Qais Ahmad Kamawal ( ps, ; born 15 August 2000) is an Afghan cricketer. He made his Test match debut for the Afghanistan cricket team in September 2019. Domestic career Qais Ahmad made his senior cricket debut for Kabul Eagles in the 2017 Shpag ...

Sharafuddin Ashraf Sharafuddin Ashraf (born 10 January 1995) is an Afghan cricketer. He made his international debut for the Afghanistan cricket team in July 2014. Domestic career In July 2018, Ashraf was the leading wicket-taker for Amo Sharks in the 2018 Ghazi ...

and

Nijat Masood Nijat Masood (born 30 December 1998) is an Afghan cricketer. He made his international debut for the Afghanistan cricket team in June 2022. Career He made his List A debut for Mis Ainak Region in the 2017 Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day ...

as reserve players.

Binura Fernando Binura "Boyka" Fernando (born 12 July 1995) is a Sri Lankan cricketer who plays for the Sri Lanka national team. Early and domestic career He was part of Sri Lanka's squad for the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. In August 2018, he was n ...

and

Kasun Rajitha Chandrasekara Arachchilage Kasun Rajitha (born 1 June 1993) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who plays all formats of the game in international level for Sri Lanka. He is an old boy of St. Servatius' College, Matara. Early and domestic ...

were ruled out due to injury shortly after being named into the squad and were replaced by

Asitha Fernando Asitha Madusanka Fernando (born 31 July 1997) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer. He made his international debut for the Sri Lanka cricket team in July 2017. Under 19 and domestic career Prior to his Test selection, he was part of Sri L ...

and

Pramod Madushan Pramod Madushan Liyanagamage (born 14 December 1993) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who currently plays Twenty20 internationals for the national team. He is a past pupil of Theraputta National School, Hambantota. Domestic career He made ...

respectively. On 20 August 2022, Pakistan bowler

Shaheen Afridi Shaheen Shah Afridi (Urdu, Pashto: ; born 6 April 2000) is a Pakistani professional cricketer who plays as a fast bowler for the Pakistan national cricket team. Early life and career Afridi belongs to the Afridi, Zakhakhel Afridi tribe of the Pa ...

was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury, and was replaced by

Mohammad Hasnain Mohammad Hasnain (born 5 April 2000) is a Pakistani cricketer who has played for the Pakistan cricket team since 2019. He is one of the fastest bowlers currently, timed at over 150kmh. Early life Hasnain was born in a family of six tracing its ...

. On 22 August 2022,

Nurul Hasan Saiyid Nurul Hasan (26 December 1921 – 12 July 1993) was an Indian historian and an elder statesman in the Government of India. A member of the Rajya Sabha, he was the Union Minister of State (with Independent Charges) of Education, So ...

and

Hasan Mahmud Shakib Al Mahmmad Tamim( bn, হাসান মাহমুদ; born 12 October 1999) is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He made his international debut for the Bangladesh cricket team in March 2020. Domestic career He made his first-class debut fo ...

were ruled out due to injuries and

Mohammad Naim Mohammad Naim Sheikh (born 22 August 1999) is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He made his international debut for the Bangladesh cricket team in November 2019. Domestic career Naim made his List A debut for Legends of Rupganj in the 2017–18 Dhaka Pr ...

was added to the Bangladesh squad. On 26 August 2022, Mohammad Wasim was ruled out due to side strain and Hasan Ali was named as his replacement. On 2 September 2022,

Ravindra Jadeja Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja (born 6 December 1988), commonly known as Ravindra Jadeja, is an Indian international cricketer. He is an all-rounder, who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm orthodox spin. He was the captain of the Chennai Sup ...

was ruled out of the tournament due to a right knee injury, with Axar Patel added to the Indian squad as his replacement.

Venues

Group stage

Group A

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Group B

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Super Four

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Final

Statistics

Most runs

Most wickets

Notes

References

External links

Series home at ESPNcricinfo
{{International cricket in 2022 Asia Cup International cricket competitions in 2022