ODI Asia Cup 2023: India is the defending champions of the ODI Asia Cup in 2023. The men in blue side have won the last edition of the Asia Cup in the one-day international format, and this time they will be eyeing to defend their crown.
Under Rohit Sharma, India won the fifty overs format event of the Asia Cup when the 2018 edition was played in the United Arab Emirates.
In the ODI Asia Cup 2023 event, India will start their campaign against the men in green side, Pakistan in Sri Lanka on Saturday, 2nd September 2023.
Today we will relive the top six moments of the Indian team in the Asia Cup tournament history.
In this list, India's most loved players like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have been named along with the other Indian stars.
The list starts with the God of Cricket’s special milestone in International Cricket. Sachin Tendulkar scored a century of centuries and is the only player still with that record.
Tendulkar scored his 100th International Ton against Bangladesh in the 2012 Asia Cup edition.
Unfortunately, India lost that game, but still, Sachin is praised for his tremendous achievement on social media and print media platforms.
Before clinching the title in 2010, Team India ended the tournament as the runner-up of the Asia Cup event, losing three finals against Sri Lanka.
Before 2010, India had also reached the 2008 final, where Ajantha Mendis spun a web against the Indian batters, which allowed Sri Lanka to win that edition of this Asian Tournament.
India also reached the finals in 2010, and they faced Sri Lanka again. But this time, the table turned towards India as the men in blue gave an all-around performance against the Lankan Tigers in the finals to clinch the title after a ten-year gap.
MS Dhoni captained that team and gave India their fifth title in this tournament.
The Asia Cup has been played in fifty-over format since its inception. But in 2016, this Asian tournament was changed to the shortest format, and the Asia Cup last year was a twenty-over game.
MS Dhoni was the skipper again for Team India, and Virat Kohli was the top run scorer for the men in blue side in the 2016 edition.
At the same time, Hardik Pandya had also picked up the most wickets for his country in that year. India defeated the host of that year's Asia Cup T20 edition, Bangladesh, and won the title for the sixth time.
India had reached the Asia Cup 2018 edition finals in the United Arab Emirates, and Afghanistan was already out of that tournament.
So, Rohit Sharma was rested, and MS Dhoni was asked to lead the side, which was also for the final time.
The players from the Afghan nation were ready to bow out of the tournament with a fight against the tournament's favourite team, India.
Afghanistan batted first in that encounter and scored 252 runs in their fifty-over quota. The Afghans reached this total mainly because of a brilliant 124-run knock played by Mohammad Shahzad. But India's response wasn't a great one.
Rahul and Rayudu gave a good start of 110 runs. Rahul scored 60, and Rayudu scored 57 runs. This game was tied because of the middle-order failure.
Afghanistan bowlers returned strongly and kept India to the same score of 252 runs. Ultimately, this game was tied and remembered as the most thrilling encounter in the Asia Cup history.
India's Hitman will captain the team in the ODI Asia Cup 2023 edition as he did in 2018 and 2022. That Asia Cup tournament was held in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2023 Rohit will be eyeing for his second title of this tournament. In 2018, the Asia Cup was played in the fifty overs format, and Rohit won the title for the first time in his captaincy stint.
Hitmhttps://www.sinceindependence.com/sports/rohit-sharma-escapes-injury-during-practice-match-ahead-of-semi-final-against-englandan had a good edition in 2018 as the batsman. Rohit was the second-highest run-getter of that edition. He had scored 317 runs from five matches.
Sharma had an average of 105.67, which was the best in that 2018 edition. His strike rate was 142.62, which was also the best. Rohit had also smashed one century in the 2018 edition, which came against Pakistan. Hitman had led the team from the front in the last edition.
The list started with the God of Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, and ends with the King of Cricket, Virat Kohli. India’s best Asia Cup moments are incomplete if Kohli’s 183-run knock against Pakistan is not mentioned.
Even though India finished third in the Asia Cup 2012 edition in Bangladesh, this knock from Virat holds a special place in the hearts of Kohli’s and Indian fans.
India was asked to chase a sniff score of 329 runs, and they had lost Gautam Gambhir for zero. Virat batted at the number three position in that game and still owns that spot because of this magnificent knock.
This ODI match was also the last match for Sachin Tendulkar in the blue jersey. Tendulkar scored a vital 52 runs and shared a much-needed partnership with Kohli.
Then it was Kohli, who played an innings of a lifetime which helped India to chase down this target. He also slammed the highest individual score in Asia Cup history.
Virat went past the record of Younis Khan’s 144 runs which he scored in 2004. Due to Kohli’s 183 marathon knock, India won that game against Pakistan.
