The Asia Cup 2018 is just three days away. Rohit Sharma who will step into the shoes of Virat Kohli for the tournament has already started preparing for the Asia Cup 2018 which starts on September 15 in UAE.  Sharma was seen sweating it out in the nets yesterday. With India clinching the trophy in 2016, all hopes are pinned on Rohit Sharma and company to continue their winning streak. Back in 2016, the ICC had announced that the Asia Cup will be played in rotating formats i.e. ODI and T20. Squads for all the participating teams for Asia Cup 2016

So 2016, became the first year where Asia Cup was played in the T20 format and was played in Bangladesh. Unlike this year, the Asia Cup 2016, witnessed the participation of five teams- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and UAE. The tournament witnessed 12 matches in total where no team left a single stone unturned to walk away with the title.

India vs Bangladesh

The first match was played between India and Bangladesh at the Sheer-e-Bangla stadium. After winning the toss, Bangladesh elected to field. It was Rohit Sharma who scored a mammoth of 83 runs from 55 balls. Titbits from others helped India reach the total of 166 runs from 20 overs. It was Ravindra Jadeja who snapped 3 wickets with Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra getting a couple of wickets each. As a result, the Indian bowlers reduced the Bangladeshis to 121 runs and won the game convincingly by 45 runs.

Sri Lanka vs UAE

The next match was played between Sri Lanka and UAE, which the former won by 14 runs. All thanks to Dinesh Chandimal’s 50 and Lasith Malinga’s 4 wickets.

Bangladesh vs UAE

The hosts registered their first victory by defeating UAE by 51 runs. This was the first time that Bangladesh dismissed a side in the second innings of a T20I.

Pakistan vs India

Now, this was the most awaited clash of the Asia Cup 2016 and the Indians too made it memorable by sending the Pakistani team back to the pavilion in 17.3 overs. Pakistani side was all out for 83 runs and Hardik Pandya bowled a dream spell by snapping 3 wickets giving away 8 runs. India on the other hand, made the total in 15.3 overs with the loss of 5 wickets. After Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane getting out on 0, Virat Kohli scored 49 runs off 51 balls.

Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka

By now, India had won a couple of matches and almost securing their place for the semi-finals. Bangladesh too won the match by beating Sri Lanka by 23 runs and were almost through the group stage.

UAE vs Pakistan

Pakistan registered their first victory by defeating UAE by 7 wickets and thereby citing the third spot on the points table. Pakistan became the first team to play 100 T20I matches and UAE was eliminated from the tournament.

Sri Lanka vs India

India once again won the match against Sri Lanka by 5 wickets. Virat Kohli once again stood tall by making 56 runs off 47 balls while chasing the total of 138 runs. MS Dhoni became the first player to hit 200 sixes as a captain in international matches.

Pakistan vs Bangladesh

The hosts continued having a great form even in this match as they beat Pakistan by 5 wickets. With this, Sri Lanka and Pakistan got eliminated out of the tournament.

UAE vs India

The Indian bowlers reduced UAE to 81 runs in 20 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got a couple of wickets. India achieved the total in just 10.1 overs and registered the biggest win in terms of balls remaining (59) in T20Is.

Sri Lanka vs Pakistan

Pakistan won the match against Sri Lanka by 6 wickets. Thereby leaving Lanka with only one victory in the tournament. However, they did have something to cheer about as Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan became the first player to score 200 fours in T20Is.

Bangladesh vs India

Now, this was the match everyone was waiting for. It was due to the rains that the match was reduced to 15 overs per side. India won the toss and elected to field and the hosts posted a total of 120 runs for 5 wickets. Shikhar Dhawan scored 60 runs and India achieved the total in 13.5 overs. Thus India clinched the Asia Cup 2016.

By the end of the tournament, this is how the points table looked.

Team Pld W L T NR Pts NRR
 India 4 4 0 0 0 8 +2.020
 Bangladesh 4 3 1 0 0 6 +0.458
 Pakistan 4 2 2 0 0 4 –0.296
 Sri Lanka 4 1 3 0 0 2 –0.293
 United Arab Emirates 4 0 4 0 0 0 –1.813

 

Check out India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2018:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), K L Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 12, 2018 11:51 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).