Asia Cup: Once a continental showpiece, now a prep event

By acting as a warmup to ICC meets in recent years, the Asia Cup has at least ensured continuity

- Somshuvra Laha

The Asia Cup will begin on Friday, with Pakistan taking on Nepal in Multan. The next day, Sri Lanka play Bangladesh almost 2,700 km away, in Pallekele, also the host of the India-Pakistan match on September 2. Never before has the Asia Cup been co-hosted and for good reason as well, as it barely made sense for teams to crisscross the subcontinent for a tournament that hardly lasted 10 days in the 90s and early 2000s. But with changing priorities, staging the Asia Cup is becoming more of a compulsion than a formality.

Its relevance was palpable in the 90s that coincided with the Asian block's rise within world cricket. Sharjah had emerged as the hottest summer destination around this time, staging the inaugural edition of the Asia Cup in 1984 that kicked off the ritual of hosting the annual CBFS fundraising tournaments. "For the first time, did the world see Indian and Pakistani supporters sitting together and enjoying a match," Asif Iqbal told HT in an interview last year. But Sharjah didn't quite capture an all-encompassing Asian vibe because of the regular invites to non-Asian nations.

The early years