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Last edited September 20, 2023


Template:Infobox cricket tournament

The 2018 Asia Cup (also known as Unimoni Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons)[1] was a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that was held in the United Arab Emirates in September 2018.[2] It was the 14th edition of the Asia Cup and the third time the tournament was played in the United Arab Emirates, after the 1984 and 1995 tournaments. India were the defending champions,[3] and retained their title, after beating Bangladesh by three wickets in the final.[4]

The five full members of the Asian Cricket Council took part in the tournament: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They were joined by Hong Kong, who won the 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier tournament.[5] Hong Kong had lost their ODI status after finishing tenth in the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in March.[6][7] However, on 9 September 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded ODI status to all matches in the tournament.[8]

Background

Originally, the tournament was scheduled to be played in India.[9][10] It was moved to the United Arab Emirates, following ongoing political tensions between India and Pakistan.[2]

On 29 October 2015, following the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Singapore, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary stated that the 2018 edition of the tournament would be held in India.[11] In August 2017, the BCCI sought government clearance to host the tournament, after the 2017 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup was moved to Malaysia.[12] In April 2018, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, asked if the BCCI and ACC would consider hosting the tournament in Abu Dhabi, in a bid to ensure Pakistan's participation.[13]

Pakistan were scheduled to host the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup ahead of the tournament in April.[14] With the announcement that the Asia Cup would be played in the United Arab Emirates, the Emerging Teams Asia Cup was moved to December 2018, with Sri Lanka co-hosting the tournament with Pakistan.[2]

Format

The schedule and format of the tournament was announced on 24 July 2018, with the six teams split into two groups of three.[15] The top two teams from each of the groups progressed to the Super Four section of the tournament.[15] From there, the top two teams of the Super Four section played each other in the final.[15] Initially, the team that finishes second in Group A were scheduled to play their first Super Four game in Abu Dhabi. However, India would be based in Dubai, irrespective of where they finish in the pool.[16] On 19 September 2018, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) revised the schedule for the Super Four section[17] The captains of Bangladesh and Pakistan were both critical of the ACC's new schedule.[18][19]

Teams

Squads

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Before the start of the tournament, Wafadar Momand was ruled out of Afghanistan's squad due to injury and was replaced by Yamin Ahmadzai,[26] and Mominul Haque was added to Bangladesh's squad.[27] Dinesh Chandimal and Danushka Gunathilaka were ruled out of Sri Lanka's squad due to injury. They were replaced by Niroshan Dickwella and Shehan Jayasuriya respectively.[28][29] Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal suffered a wrist injury in the opening match and was ruled out of the rest of the tournament.[30][31]

After the conclusion of the India-Pakistan match in the group stage, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and Shardul Thakur were all ruled out of India's squad for the rest of the tournament due to injuries. They were replaced by Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, and Siddarth Kaul.[32] At the Super Four stage of the tournament, Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes were added to Bangladesh's squad.[33] Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out of Bangladesh's final Super Four match, and the rest of the tournament, due to an injury he initially sustained in January 2018, during the final of the Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series.[34]

Match officials

The ICC appointed the following umpires and match referees for all thirteen matches. Six match officiating umpires were from participating countries of the Asia Cup who are the members of ICC International Panel of Umpires, four umpires were from neutral countries, while the remaining two umpires belonged to the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.[35]

Match Referees

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Umpires from participating nations

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Umpires from neutral countries

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Venues

United Arab Emirates
Dubai Abu Dhabi
Dubai International Cricket Stadium Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium
Coordinates: Template:Coord Coordinates: Template:Coord
Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 20,000
Matches: 8 Matches: 5

Group stage

Bangladesh faced Sri Lanka in the opening game of the tournament at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.[36] It was Bangladesh's first match in the United Arab Emirates since April 1995, when they faced Pakistan in the 1995 Asia Cup.[37]

In Group B, Sri Lanka were eliminated from the tournament, after losing both of their matches. Therefore Afghanistan and Bangladesh progressed to the Super Four section of the competition.[38][39] In Group A, Hong Kong also lost both of their matches, meaning that India and Pakistan progressed to the Super Fours.[40]

Group A

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Group B

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Super Four

In the penultimate round of Super Four matches, India beat Pakistan by nine wickets and Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by three runs. Therefore, India progressed to the final of the tournament and Afghanistan were eliminated.[41][42] In the final Super Four match, Bangladesh beat Pakistan by 37 runs to advance to the final.[43]

In India's last Super Four match, against Afghanistan, captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan were both rested for the match. MS Dhoni was named captain of the side in their absence, and became the first cricketer to lead India 200 times in ODIs.[44] Dhoni became the oldest player to lead India in an ODI.[45] The match finished in a tie, the first time this had occurred in the Asia Cup.[45] It was also the first time that Afghanistan were involved in a tied game in ODIs.[45] Template:2018 Asia Cup Super Four Template:Single-innings cricket match


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Final

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Statistics

Most runs

Player Innings Runs Average SR HS
Template:Flagicon Shikhar Dhawan 5 342 68.40 102.08 127
Template:Flagicon Rohit Sharma 5 317 105.66 93.51 111*
Template:Flagicon Mushfiqur Rahim 5 302 60.40 81.18 144
Template:Flagicon Mohammad Shahzad 5 268 53.60 83.23 124
Template:Flagicon Hashmatullah Shahidi 5 263 65.75 72.25 97*
Source: [46]

Most wickets

Player Innings Wickets Overs BBI Econ.
Template:Flagicon Rashid Khan 5 10 46.1 46/3 3.72
Template:Flagicon Mustafizur Rahman 5 10 42 45/4 4.4
Template:Flagicon Kuldeep Yadav 5 10 58 45/3 4.08
Template:Flagicon Jasprit Bumrah 4 8 34.5 37/3 3.67
Template:Flagicon Ravindra Jadeja 4 7 35 29/4 4.45
Source: [47]

Notes

  1. Unimoni to title sponsor UAE's Asia Cup. SportBusiness Group(15 August 2018). Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2018 Asia Cup moved from India to UAE. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  3. India to host Asia Cup 2018 in UAE. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  4. India creep home in final-over thriller to defend Asia Cup title. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  5. Hong Kong hold their nerve to clinch Asia Cup berth. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  6. Norman Vanua, Charles Amini help PNG defend 200. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  7. Asia Cup participation highlights the ironies of Hong Kong's ODI existence. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  8. ICC awards Asia Cup ODI status. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  9. Future Tours Programme. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  10. IPL now has window in ICC Future Tours Programme. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  11. 2016 Asia Cup in Bangladesh, 2018 in India: Thakur.
  12. BCCI to seek government clearance to host 2018 Asia Cup in India after losing rights for U-19 event. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  13. UAE Sheikh asks BCCI, ACC to stage Asia Cup in the Gulf. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  14. Pakistan to host Emerging Asia Cup in 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Asia Cup 2018: No break for India in group stage; will face qualifier and Pakistan on consecutive days. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  16. Sarfraz miffed by skewed Asia Cup scheduling. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  17. ACC releases new schedule for Super Four stage of Asia Cup. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  18. Sarfraz, Mortaza Unhappy With Super Fours Schedule. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  19. Even a mad person would be upset, says Mash on fixture change. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  20. Afghanistan pick four spinners for Asia Cup. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  21. Mohammad Mithun, Ariful Haque in Bangladesh squad for Asia Cup 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  22. Anshuman Rath to lead Hong Kong into the 2018 Unimoni Asia Cup. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  23. India rest Virat Kohli for Asia Cup, Rohit Sharma to lead; uncapped Khaleel Ahmed called up. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  24. Shaheen Afridi included in Pakistan squad for Asia Cup 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  25. Lasith Malinga recalled for Asia Cup. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  26. Wafadar ruled out of Asia Cup. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  27. Asia cup UAE 2018: Mominul Haque included in Bangladesh Squad. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  28. Dinesh Chandimal ruled out of Asia Cup. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  29. Shehan Jayasuriya replaces injured Danushka gunathilaka in Sri Lanka's Asia Cup squad. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  30. Tamim Iqbal ruled out of Asia Cup. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  31. Terms and Conditions for the Use of the Bookmaker's Services. betvisabd.net(2023-01-07). Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  32. Hardik, Axar, Shardul all out of Asia Cup with injury. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  33. Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes added to Bangladesh's Asia Cup squad. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  34. Injured Shakib Al Hasan flies home after being ruled out of Asia Cup. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  35. ICC Umpire Appointments for Asia Cup 2018.
  36. Asia Cup 2018 Revealed: Asia Cup Schedule. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  37. Akila, Chandimal absence gives slight edge to Bangladesh. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  38. Afghanistan knock Sri Lanka out of the Asia Cup. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  39. Rahmat, spinners knock Sri Lanka out of Asia Cup. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  40. Hong Kong give India a scare, but Dhawan century proves just enough. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  41. Bangladesh edge out Afghanistan in last-ball thriller. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  42. Mustafizur defends seven in last over to knock out Afghanistan. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  43. Bangladesh stun Pakistan to reach Asia Cup final and set up showdown with India. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  44. Asia Cup 2018: MS Dhoni creates history, leads India for 200th time. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  45. 45.0 45.1 45.2 Asia Cup 2018: Super-4s, Match 5, India vs Afghanistan – Statistical Highlights. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  46. Asia Cup 2018 — Most Runs — Records. ESPN. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  47. Asia Cup 2022 — Most Wickets — Records. ESPN. Retrieved 8 September 2022.

References

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