The 2022 Asia Cup (also known as DP World Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, with the matches played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) during August and September 2022 in the United Arab Emirates. Originally scheduled to be held in September 2020, the tournament was postponed in July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then rescheduled to take place in June 2021, before being postponed once again. Pakistan was scheduled to host the tournament after retaining the rights to host the 2022 edition. However, in October 2021, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced that Sri Lanka would host the tournament in 2022, with Pakistan co-hosting the 2023 edition with the former. India 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.
2022 Asia Cup is located in United Arab Emirates
Background
In December 2018, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were granted the rights to host the tournament by the Asian Cricket Council (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 (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 stated that "the Asia Cup will be held in Dubai and both India and Pakistan will play." The following day, Ehsan Mani 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 COVID-19 pandemic. 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 India qualified for the final of the World Test Championship, 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 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 and Kuwait, who progressed from the 2020 ACC Western Region T20, as well as Singapore and Hong Kong, who came through the 2020 ACC Eastern Region T20. Hong Kong qualified for the main event after a first-place finish in the qualifier.
Means of qualification
Date
Host
Berths
Qualified
ICC Full Member
—N/a
—N/a
5
Afghanistan Bangladesh India Pakistan Sri Lanka
Qualifier
August 2022
Oman
1
Hong Kong
Total
6
Squads
India also named Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel 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, Ripon Mondol and Soumya Sarkar as standby players. Afghanistan also named Qais Ahmad, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Nijat Masood as reserve players. Binura Fernando and Kasun Rajitha were ruled out due to injury shortly after being named into the squad and were replaced by Asitha Fernando and Pramod Madushan respectively. On 20 August 2022, Pakistan bowler Shaheen Afridi was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury, and was replaced by Mohammad Hasnain. On 22 August 2022, Nurul Hasan and Hasan Mahmud were ruled out due to injuries and Mohammad Naim 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 was ruled out of the tournament due to a right knee injury, with Axar Patel added to the Indian squad as his replacement.
Group A
Advanced to the Super Four
India won the toss and elected to field. , Naseem Shah (Pak) made his T20I debut. , Virat Kohli (Ind) played in his 100th T20I, becoming the first Indian and second cricketer overall to play in 100 matches in all three formats of international cricket.
Hong Kong won the toss and elected to field. , This was the first time India and Hong Kong faced each other in T20Is. , India qualified for Super four as the result of match.
Hong Kong won the toss and elected to field. , In terms of runs, this was Pakistan's largest winning margin in T20Is. , This was Hong Kong's lowest score in T20Is. , Pakistan qualified for super four and Hong Kong eliminated as the result of match.
Pos
Teamv, t, e
Pld
W
L
NR
Pts
NRR
1
India
2
2
0
0
4
1.096
2
Pakistan
2
1
1
0
2
3.811
3
Hong Kong
2
0
2
0
0
−4.875
28 August 2022 18:00 (D/N) Scorecard
Pakistan 147 (19.5 overs)
v
India148/5 (19.4 overs)
Mohammad Rizwan 43 (42) Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4/26 (4 overs)
Ravindra Jadeja 35 (29) Mohammad Nawaz 3/33 (3.4 overs)
India won by 5 wickets Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Umpires: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SL) and Masudur Rahman (Ban) Player of the match: Hardik Pandya (Ind)
31 August 2022 18:00 (D/N) Scorecard
India 192/2 (20 overs)
v
Hong Kong152/5 (20 overs)
Suryakumar Yadav 68* (26) Mohammad Ghazanfar 1/19 (2 overs)
Babar Hayat 41 (35) Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/15 (3 overs)
India won by 40 runs Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Umpires: Ahsan Raza (Pak) and Gazi Sohel (Ban) Player of the match: Suryakumar Yadav (Ind)
2 September 2022 18:00 (D/N) Scorecard
Pakistan 193/2 (20 overs)
v
Hong Kong38 (10.4 overs)
Mohammad Rizwan 78* (57) Ehsan Khan 2/28 (4 overs)
Nizakat Khan 8 (13) Shadab Khan 4/8 (2.4 overs)
Pakistan won by 155 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SL) and Raveendra Wimalasiri (SL) Player of the match: Mohammad Rizwan (Pak)
Group B
Advanced to the Super Four
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field. , Dilshan Madushanka and Matheesha Pathirana (SL) both made their T20I debuts.
Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat. , Shakib Al Hasan (Ban) played in his 100th T20I. , Afghanistan qualified for super four as the result of the match.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field. , Ebadot Hossain (Ban) and Asitha Fernando (SL) both made their T20I debuts. , Sri Lanka qualified for super four and Bangladesh eliminated as the result of the match.
Afghanistan won by 8 wickets Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahsan Raza (Pak) Player of the match: Fazalhaq Farooqi (Afg)
30 August 2022 18:00 (D/N) Scorecard
Bangladesh 127/7 (20 overs)
v
Afghanistan131/3 (18.3 overs)
Mosaddek Hossain 48* (31) Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3/16 (4 overs)
Afghanistan won by 7 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Jayaraman Madanagopal (Ind) and Asif Yaqoob (Pak) Player of the match: Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afg)
Sri Lanka won by 2 wickets Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) Player of the match: Kusal Mendis (SL)
Super Four
Advanced to the final
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to field.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field. , Sri Lanka qualified for the final as the result of the match and India were eliminated.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to field. , Mohammad Nabi (Afg) played in his 100th T20I. , Pakistan qualified for the final and Afghanistan were eliminated as a result of this match.
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field. , Virat Kohli (Ind) scored his first century in T20Is and made a new record for the highest T20I score for India (later surpassed) . He also scored his 71st century in international cricket, and equalled Ricky Ponting's record of the second-most centuries scored across formats in international cricket. Kohli also became the fourth Indian after Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to score 100s in all three formats. , Bhuvneshwar Kumar took his second five-for in T20Is, becoming the first Indian to do so.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field. , Pramod Madushan (SL) made his T20I debut.
