Asia Cup in numbers: The best of the best, the Tigers who roared

Asia Cup in numbers: The top batters, bowlers, wicketkeepers, fielders and team records from all Asia Cup so far.

Virat Kohli scored 183 against Pakistan at Mirpur (Images: ©Twitter)

The upcoming Asia Cup will be the 16th edition of the prestigious multi-national cricket tournament. While there have been 15 tournaments in the past, it has not entirely been played in the ODI format with two editions being played in the T20I format.

We will here see how the past 13 editions of the Asia Cup in the ODI format have panned out. A total of 8 teams have featured in the Asia Cup since 1984, and Sri Lanka is the only team to have featured in all the editions so far.

Top 3 scores

Team	Opposite	Score	Venue	Date	Match Result
Pakistan	Bangladesh	385/7	Dambulla	21 Jun 2010	Pak won by 139 runs
India	Hong Kong	374/4	Karachi	25 Jun 2008	India won by 256 runs
Sri Lanka	Bangladesh	357/9	Lahaore	25 Jun 2008	SL won by 131 runs

Pakistan have scored the highest ever total in Asia Cup history, having amassed a mammoth 385 in the 2010 Asia Cup game against Bangladesh. Shahid Afridi scored a 60-ball 124 which led to Pakistan winning the game by 139 runs. Next in the list is India, the 374 came in a winning cause against Hong Kong, followed by Sri Lanka’s hammering Bangladesh for 357, both the 2nd and the 3rd highest scores, interestingly, happened on the same day.

Lowest scores

Team	Opposite	Score	Venue	Date	Match Result
Bangladesh	Pakistan	87	Dhaka	2 Jun 2000	Ban lost by 233 runs
Bangladesh	Pakistan	94	Moratuwa	31 Mar 1986	Ban lost by 7 wickets
Sri Lanka	India	96	Sharjah	8 Apr 1984	SL lost by 10 wickets

Bangladesh hold the dubious record of having the top-2 lowest totals in ODI Asia Cup history and both of them came against Pakistan. Sri Lanka’s 96 against India in 1984 is the 3rd lowest ever total in Asia Cup history.

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Highest victory margins (runs)

Team	Opposite	Score	Venue	Date	Margin of win
India	Hong Kong	374/4	Karachi	25 Jun 2008	By 256 runs
Pakistan	Bangladesh	320/3	Dhaka	2 June 2000	By 233 runs
Pakistan	Bangladesh	284/3	Chattogram	20 Oct 1988	By 173 runs

India leads the list with its mammoth 256-run victory over Hong Kong in the 2008 Asia Cup held in Pakistan. Suresh Raina and the then Indian skipper both hit centuries as India piled up 374 in their quota of overs, and Hong Kong in turn were bowled out for just 118 runs.

The next 2 highest margin of wins were achieved by Pakistan and their opponent both the time was Bangladesh, whom they beat by 233 and 173 runs in 2000 and 1998 respectively.

Lowest victory margins (runs)

Team	Opposite	Score	Venue	Date	Margin of win
Pakistan	Bangladesh	236/9	Mirpur	22 Mar 2022	By 2 runs
India	Sri Lanka	271/6	Colombo	27 Jul 2004	By 4 runs
Pakistan	India	257/7	Sharjah	23 Oct 1991	By 4 runs

In what was a thriller at Mirpur in the Asia Cup 2012 Final, Pakistan won a close game by mere 2 runs against Bangladesh. After making 236 with the bat, Pakistan bounced back strongly to restrict the hosts to only 234, thanks to an all-round performance by Shahid Afridi.

In the 2004 game, India won against Sri Lanka by 4 runs, this time with the help of Virender Sehwag’s heroics who made 81 with the bat and also took 3 wickets. Similarly, Pakistan also won the game against India by a 4-run margin back in 1991, in which Aamer Sohail emerged as the real match-winner.

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Batting Records in Asia Cup

Top run-scorers in Asia cup

Player	Team	Innings	Total Runs	HS	Ave	SR	50s/100s
Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	24	1220	130	53.04	102.52	3/6
Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	23	1075	121	48.86	84.51	8/4
Sachin Tendulkar	India	21	971	114	51.10	85.476	7/2

Most centuries in Asia Cup

Player	Team	Innings	Total Runs	50s/100s
Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	24	1220	3/6
Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	23	1075	8/4
Virat Kohli	India	10*	613*	1/3*

The Sri Lankan duo of Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya dominate the list of top batters, with them dominating both the runs chart and the list of top centurions. While Jayasuriya heads the pack with 1220 runs and 6 tons in a total of 24 innings, Sangakkara comes in a close 2nd with 1075 runs and 4 centuries in a total of 23 innings. Virat Kohli, the modern day batting legend from India, comes in at number 3 with a total of 971 runs, hitting 3 centuries in just 10 innings, and one should be hoping that the meter keeps running in this edition and in many more to come.

It is to be noted that Shoaib Malik also has 3 centuries in Asia Cup clashes, but he took 5 innings more than Kohli.

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Highest individual scores in Asia cup

Player	Team	Score	Opposition	SR	Venue	Date	Match Result
Virat Kohli	India	183 (148)	Pakistan	123.64	Dhaka	18 Mar 2022	Ind won by 6 wkt
Younus Khan	Pakistan	144 (122)	Hong Kong	118.03	Colombo	18 Jul 2004	Pak won by 173 runs
Mushfuqur Rahim	Bangladesh	144 (150)	Sri Lanka	96.00	Dubai	15 Sep 2018	Ban won by 137 runs

Kohli’s 183 came during a successful chase of 330 for India and this remains the champion batters’ highest ODI score till date.

In the second place comes Pakistan’s Younus Khan. Batting first alongside Shoaib Malik, who also scored a century, they piled up a score of 343 against Hong Kong at Mirpur, which later proved to be too much for the young side.

Likewise, Mushfiqur’s Rahim’s epic knock of 144 where the Bangladesh team’s total score was just 261 helped them achieve the famous 137-run victory over the Sri Lankan team in the 2018 Asia Cup opener in Dubai.

Bowling Records in Asia Cup

Top wicket-takers in Asia Cup

Player	Team	Innings	Wickets	BBI	Ave	ER	4w/5w
Muthiah Muralidaran	Sri Lanka	24	30	5/31	28.83	3.75	1/1
Lasith Malinga	Sri Lanka	14	29	5/34	20.55	4.65	1/3
Ajantha Mendis	Sri Lanka	8	26	6/13	10.42	3.98	2/2

Most five-wicket hauls in Asia Cup

Player	Team	Wicket	Total 5 fers	Strike Rate
Lasith Malinga	Sri Lanka	29	3	26.51
Ajantha Mendis	Sri Lanka	26	2	15.69
Muthiah Muralidaran	Sri Lanka	30	1	46.06

Just like the batting records, the Sri Lankan trio of Muthiah Muralidaran, Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga also dominate in bowling in Asia Cup. The spin wizard Murali has taken the maximum wickets (30) in ODI Asia cup matches at an economy of just 3.75, while Malinga has taken the most 5-wicket hauls in Asia cup (3), followed by compatriot Mendis.

6 other bowlers have also taken 1 five-wicket haul each in the Asia Cup.

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Best spells in Asia Cup

Player	Team	BBI	Opposition	Venue	Date	Match Result
Ajantha Mendis	Sri Lanka	6/13	India	Karachi	6 Jul 2008	SL won by 100 runs
Aaqib Javed	Bangladesh	5/19	India	Sharjah	7 Apr 1995	Pak won by 97 runs
Arshad Ayub	India	5/21	Pakistan	Dhaka	31 Oct 1988	Ind won by 4 wickets

Ajantha Mendis’ famous spell of 6/13 gave Sri Lanka a stunning 100-run win over India in the finals of Asia Cup 2008, as did Aaqib Javed’s 5/19 for Pakistan in 1995.

Arshad Ayub bowled beautifully to take 5/21 in 1988 a match against India, but the Indian side still managed to sail through and won by 4 wickets in a low-scoring game.

Fielding Records in Asia Cup

Most catches in Asia Cup

Player	Team	Catches	Max Catches in innings	Total Matches
Mahela Jayawardene	Sri Lanka	15	3	28
Younus Khan	Pakistan	14	3	14
Aravinda de Silva	Sri Lanka	12	2	24

While Mahela Jayawardene has the most catches among non-wicketkeepers in Asia Cup, Younus Khan comes 2nd with 14 catches in a lot less number of matches - a remarkable feat indeed. Aravinda De Silva from Sri Lanka completes the list with 12 catches.

Wicketkeeping records in Asia Cup

Most dismissals

Player	Team	Dismissals	Catches	Stumping	Matches	MDPG
MS Dhoni	India	36	25	11	19	5
Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	36	27	9	24	4
Moin Khan	Pakistan	17	12	5	14	3

*MDPG - Most Dismissal Per Game

The legendary wicketkeepers MS Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara have 36 dismissals each to their name in Asia Cup, although the former Indian captain’s came in just 19 games as compared to the Sri Lankan’s 24. The next is 17 by Pakistan’s Moin Khan who is also in level with Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim.

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