Asia Cup: The Only International Cricket Tournament With Two Formats

Asia Cup 2025 in UAE will be played in T20I format. India eye record ninth title and a historic second T20I crown in cricket’s only dual-format tournament.

Asia Cup 2025 (Image Source: Google)

The Asia Cup 2025 is scheduled to take place in the T20I format and held in the United Arab Emirates. The first Asia Cup was also held in 1984 in Sharjah, UAE.

A unique feature of the Asia Cup is its format. This is the 17th edition of the Asia Cup and India are gunning for an overall ninth title. If India lifts the title on September 28, they will do what no side has ever done. They shall become the first team to win two editions of the Asia Cup in the T20I format.

- 14 out of the 16 editions so far have been played in the ODI format.

- 2 (2016 and 2022) out of the 16 editions so far have been played in the T20 format. India won in 2016, and Sri Lanka in 2022.

- MS Dhoni is the only skipper to win the Asia Cup in both formats.

- Both India and Sri Lanka have won the Asia Cup in both the formats.

- India won the last Asia Cup in 2023 but that was in the ODI format.

In recent years, the Asia Cup has been used by the ACC as a 'preparatory' event to help teams like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh etc. to prepare for the bigger contest. That’s why the Asia Cup is organized near a World Cup and in the format of the World Cup. To be specific, to prepare for a T20 World Cup, the Asia Cup would be played in the T20 format and for a 50-over World Cup, it would be held as an ODI event.

As such the Asia Cup has gradually become a preparatory platform for the World Cup. This change, to rotate the format of the Asia Cup between ODI and T20I formats, was decided by the Asian Cricket Council in 2015. The next, 2016 Asia Cup was played in the T20 format, as a warm-up for the 2016 T20 World Cup. The format has been in rotation since then.

It was also felt that the change in the format as per the format of the next World Cup, makes the tournament relevant as well as increases its appeal for fans, sponsors, and broadcasters.

Asia Cup is the only international event which is being played in both ODI and T20 formats. The search for any other similar tourney (played in both the short formats) ends with the ICC Men's T20 World Cup qualification phase. In the beginning years, matches were played in 50 over format to determine the qualifiers for the T20 tournament.

The 2007 ICC World Cricket League Division One was played in ODI format from 29 January 2007 to 7 February 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya. Division One. This was the highest tier of the World Cricket League, and to be precise was the second level of cricket below the Test-playing nations. This tournament served as a warm-up for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Games were played at Nairobi Gymkhana Club, Ruaraka Sports Club and Jaffery Sports Club, all located in Nairobi.

Teams played: Kenya, Scotland, Netherlands, Canada, Ireland and Bermuda

Scotland and Kenya qualified for the final and for the 2007 Twenty20 Cricket World Championship held in South Africa in September.

Similarly, Asia Cup Qualifiers (although under different names) have been held in both ODI and T20 formats, depending upon the format of the Asia Cup, which is the target for the participation.

Some other Asia Cup facts:

- India is the most successful team with eight titles (1984, 1988, 1991, 1995, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2023). India won four of the first five editions of the tournament and are also the only team to win three successive Asia Cup titles, between 1988 to 1995.

- Sri Lanka (6:1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2022) and Pakistan (2: 2000, 2012- both in the ODI forma) are the only other teams that have won the continental championship.

- Sri Lanka were runners-up seven times - the most by any team.

- Bangladesh have finished as runners-up thrice in 2012, 2016 and 2018.

- Sri Lanka holds the record for most Asia Cup appearances, having featured in all 16 editions so far.

- India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have recorded 15 appearances each, while Afghanistan have played in the tournament four times.