The 2018 Asia Cup (also known as Unimoni Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a One-Day International (ODI)

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 that was held in the United Arab Emirates in September 2018. It was the 14th 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. ...

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 Southeast A ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

tournaments. India 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 took part in the tournament: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and

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 ...

. They were joined by Hong Kong, who won the

2018 Asia Cup Qualifier The 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was held in Malaysia from 29 August to 6 September 2018. The event served as the qualifier for the 2018 Asia Cup. The top two teams from the group stage met in the final, with the winner ...

tournament. Hong Kong had lost their ODI status after finishing tenth in the

2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that took place during March 2018 in Zimbabwe. It formed the final part of the Cricket World Cup qualification process for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. The top two te ...

in March. However, on 9 September 2018, the International Cricket Council (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 Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Singapore, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (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 The 2017 Under-19 Asia Cup was an international cricket tournament was held in Malaysia from 10 to 19 November 2017. It was originally scheduled to be held in India, but it was moved after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) refused to travel to Ind ...

was moved to Malaysia. In April 2018, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, 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 The 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup was the third edition of the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup held in Karachi, Pakistan and Colombo, Sri Lanka. Eight teams participated in the tournament including five under-23 age level teams of Test nations and ...

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 Asian Cricket Council (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 * ,

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 Mominul Haque ( bn, মমিনুল হক; born 29 September 1991), also known as Muminul Showrav, is a Bangladeshi cricketer who is a former captain of the Bangladesh national team in Test matches. He is a left-handed batter. Domestic ca ...

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 Siddarth Kaul (born 19 May 1990), also spelled Siddharth Kaul, is an Indian professional cricketer. A fast bowler who bowls at about 130 km/h, he made his first-class debut for Punjab in 2007. Kaul was a part of the victorious India Un ...

. 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 of the Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series.

Match officials

The ICC appointed the following umpires and

match referee A match referee is an official appointed to oversee professional cricket matches. Match referees for Test matches and One Day Internationals are appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Most matches below international level do not ...

s 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 The International Panel of ICC Umpires was established by the ICC in 1994 following trial in 1992/3, to ensure that one neutral umpire would stand in every Test match.Elite Panel of ICC Umpires. ; Match Referees * David Boon * Andy Pycroft ; Umpires from participating nations *

Ahmed Shah Pakteen Ahmed Shah Pakteen (born 1 January 1977) is a cricket umpire from Afghanistan. He is currently a member of International Panel of ICC Umpires. Pakteen has stood in matches in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup. On 14 January 2017 he stood ...

* Anisur Rahman * Anil Chaudhary *

Nitin Menon Nitin Narendra Menon (born 2 November 1983) is an Indian cricketer and umpire. He was a right-handed batsman, representing Madhya Pradesh in List A cricket. He is now an umpire and has stood in matches in the 2015–16 Ranji Trophy and the Shef ...

* Chettithody Shamshuddin * Ahsan Raza *

Ruchira Palliyaguruge Ruchira Palliyaguruge (born 22 January 1968) is a Sri Lankan umpire and a former first-class cricketer. Ruchira played for Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, Chilaw Marians Cricket Club, Saracens Sports Club, Nondescripts Cricket Club, Old Ca ...

; Umpires from neutral countries *

Rod Tucker Rodney James Tucker (born 28 August 1964) is an Australian cricket umpire, member of the ICC Elite Umpire Panel and officiates in international Tests, ODIs and T20Is. He was a cricketer who played briefly for New South Wales from 1985/86 to 198 ...

Marais Erasmus Marais Erasmus (born 27 February 1964) is a South African former first-class cricketer who is currently serving as an international cricket umpire. He is a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and stands in matches of all three formats of ...

* Shaun George *

Gregory Brathwaite Gregory O'Brian Brathwaite (born 9 December 1969) is a cricket umpire from Barbados. His One Day International (ODI) umpiring debut was on 7 August 2011, in a match between Canada and Afghanistan in the 2011–13 ICC World Cricket League Champi ...

Venues

Group stage

Bangladesh faced

in the opening game of the tournament at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. It was Bangladesh's first match in the United Arab Emirates since April 1995, when they faced Pakistan in the 1995 Asia Cup. In Group B, Sri Lanka were eliminated from the tournament, after losing both of their matches. Therefore Afghanistan and Bangladesh progressed to the Super Four section of the competition. In Group A, Hong Kong also lost both of their matches, meaning that India 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 and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan were both rested for the match.

MS Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian former international cricketer who was captain of the Indian national cricket team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He is also the curren ...

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 Tie has two principal meanings: * Tie (draw), a finish to a competition with identical results, particularly sports * Necktie, a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders Tie or TIE may also refer to: Engineering and technology * Ti ...

, 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

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