The Asia Cup 2010 is set to start from tomorrow with the host nations Sri Lanka taking on Pakistan at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
The Asia cup was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries.
The tournament was started from the year 1984 held in Sharjah in the UAE and it was originally scheduled to be held every two years.
Sri Lanka are the defending champions and are one of the favorites to lift the cup once again with home advantage and bunch of talented players.
Sri Lanka and India have been the most successful teams in the Asia Cup lifting it on four occasions each.
Pakistan have just won once in the year 2000 held in Bangladesh when they beat Sri Lanka in the finals.
All the teams will be fighting out to get the crown ahead of the World Cup which is scheduled to be held in the sub-continent.
The home team Sri Lanka as already mentioned have always been a dangerous one-day side with the likes of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (Cpt) in the batting department and Lasith Malinga and veteran Muttiah Muralitharan in their bowling department. The side looks good on paper with the mixture of youth and experience is sure to make it tough for the touring teams.
The youngsters under Dilshan managed to win the Tri-Nations series in Zimbabwe which will be a major booster for the youngsters ahead of the big tournament.
Pakistan have a fairly strong side especially after the likes of Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar making a return in the side. And they have talented youngsters like Shahzaib Hasan Khan, Umar Amin to charge against the opposition teams. There are still questions raised about Akhtar's fitness and it will be a good tester for him ahead of the World Cup.
The Indians have had bad patch recently after crashing out early in T20 World Cup earlier this year and after the young side failed miserably in the Tri-nations championship. The side will be boosted after the return of Senior players. The team like other side will be keen to win the cup and make it five Asia Cup wins to march one step ahead of the Lankans.
Meanwhile Dhoni's performance as captain and player will be closely watched by the selectors and former cricketers especially after speculations that the Ranchi lad would be stripped as captain after India's miserable run in the T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh the minnows will be counted out but they have the knack to create big upsets. Tanim Iqbal will be the man to watch out for after having scored two back to back century in England Test series.
All the participating nations have a bunch of talented players. The team which can make a difference by fielding well and picking the all important catches and run-outs and keeping it strong mentally stands a good chance to come out victorious. The Sri Lankans have an edge on that note but we can just wait and watch for the action to get started for now.
thatsCricket
The Asia cup was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries.
The tournament was started from the year 1984 held in Sharjah in the UAE and it was originally scheduled to be held every two years.
Sri Lanka are the defending champions and are one of the favorites to lift the cup once again with home advantage and bunch of talented players.
Sri Lanka and India have been the most successful teams in the Asia Cup lifting it on four occasions each.
Pakistan have just won once in the year 2000 held in Bangladesh when they beat Sri Lanka in the finals.
All the teams will be fighting out to get the crown ahead of the World Cup which is scheduled to be held in the sub-continent.
The home team Sri Lanka as already mentioned have always been a dangerous one-day side with the likes of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (Cpt) in the batting department and Lasith Malinga and veteran Muttiah Muralitharan in their bowling department. The side looks good on paper with the mixture of youth and experience is sure to make it tough for the touring teams.
The youngsters under Dilshan managed to win the Tri-Nations series in Zimbabwe which will be a major booster for the youngsters ahead of the big tournament.
Pakistan have a fairly strong side especially after the likes of Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar making a return in the side. And they have talented youngsters like Shahzaib Hasan Khan, Umar Amin to charge against the opposition teams. There are still questions raised about Akhtar's fitness and it will be a good tester for him ahead of the World Cup.
The Indians have had bad patch recently after crashing out early in T20 World Cup earlier this year and after the young side failed miserably in the Tri-nations championship. The side will be boosted after the return of Senior players. The team like other side will be keen to win the cup and make it five Asia Cup wins to march one step ahead of the Lankans.
Meanwhile Dhoni's performance as captain and player will be closely watched by the selectors and former cricketers especially after speculations that the Ranchi lad would be stripped as captain after India's miserable run in the T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh the minnows will be counted out but they have the knack to create big upsets. Tanim Iqbal will be the man to watch out for after having scored two back to back century in England Test series.
All the participating nations have a bunch of talented players. The team which can make a difference by fielding well and picking the all important catches and run-outs and keeping it strong mentally stands a good chance to come out victorious. The Sri Lankans have an edge on that note but we can just wait and watch for the action to get started for now.
thatsCricket
