The Asia Cup 2022, which will be in the T20 format, will kick off on August 27 with Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan in Dubai. The rivalry between India and Pakistan will resume on August 28 as they will face off for the first time since Pakistan’s 10-wicket win last year at the T20 World Cup.
India are the defending champions having won the 2018 edition of the tournament which was in ODI format; before that, India also won the 2016 Asia Cup which was the first time the competition was played in T20 format.
India are the most successful team in Asia Cup – having won the title 7 times; Sri Lanka have 5 Asia Cup trophies to their name while Pakistan have won the competition twice. The Indian batsmen have been a major reason for their success in Asia Cups.
Here are India’s top 5 run-scorers in Asia Cup history:
Sachin Tendulkar – 971 runs
Without any surprise, Sachin Tendulkar, who dominated batting charts in the 90s and 2010s, is also at the top amongst Indians in Asia Cups. Tendulkar amassed 971 runs in 23 matches at an average of 51. The Master Blaster notched up 2 centuries and 7 fifties in his Asia Cup career.
Overall, he is the third-highest scorer in Asia Cup history – following Sanath Jayasuriya (1220 runs) and Kumar Sangakkara (1075 runs), but both played a few more matches than Tendulkar.
Rohit Sharma – 883 runs
India’s current skipper Rohit Sharma is the fifth highest run-scorer in Asia Cup history and second among Indians only behind Tendulkar. The right-handed opener has aggregated 883 runs in 26 innings he’s batted in in this particular contest, raising up 1 century and 7 fifties with an overall average of 42.
Under Rohit’s captaincy, India won the 2018 A. Cup when Kohli was rested; now Rohit is India’s full-time captain and will lead India’s title defence.
Virat Kohli – 766 runs
Although Kohli is the sixth highest scorer in Asia Cup with 766 runs, he has scored these at a stunning average of 63 in only 14 innings; among the five ahead of Kohli, only Shoaib Malik has a better average of 64 than Kohli’s 63.
The former India captain has slammed 3 centuries and 2 half-centuries in these 14 games, including his career-best 183 vs Pakistan in 2012.
MS Dhoni – 690 runs
Former India skipper MS Dhoni, under whom India won the 2010 Asia Cup, has scored 690 runs in this competition – which is the second-highest runs for a wicket-keeper after Sangakkara – in 20 innings at an average of 69, reminding not out in 10 of those 20 innings! Dhoni has hit 1 hundred and 3 fifties to his cause.
Shikhar Dhawan – 613 runs
Shikhar Dhawan was the Player of the Series in India’s triumphant 2018 Asia Cup where he finished with 342 runs. Overall, the left-handed opener has scored 613 runs in 13 games, averaging 51, having notched up 2 centuries – one of those was vs Pakistan – and 3 half-centuries.
